Slayers: Beyond light and darkness
by Zoamelgustar
Summary: Continues where "between light and darkness" ended. Will Lina and Gourry ever get married, or will things continue to get in they way? And how about Sylphiel and her special someone? Chapter 12 is now up.
1. A kind witch

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Beyond light and darkness

Disclaimer: I don't own The slayers. Never have, and probably never will. Sigh….

For those of you who have read my fic "Between light and darkness", I wish you happy reading. For those who haven't, I strongly recommend doing so before reading ahead. This is a direct continuation and will assume that you have knowledge of the various original characters created in that story

With that out of the way, let's get started shall we?

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A kind witch

Friendship?

The snowflakes were gently falling from a darkened winter sky. Little by little the entire town were covered by a thin blanket of the pure white substance. In the streets children were entertaining themselves by throwing snowballs at each other.

"Ha! I got you!" a boy cried in triumph. A little girl fell to the ground, crying. "Why are you always picking on me?" she sniffed. Another boy picked up a handful of snow "You are just a street brat! We don't like you!" With that, he threw the projectile.

"You are all so mean!!" the girl shouted before running away.

The two boys shot each other a quick glance "Wait!" they shouted "not that way! The witch lives that way!". The girl however was already to far away to hear them. She was heading directly towards a small house located on the outskirts of the city.

A small soft light shone out through the windows. It looked like the only source of light inside was a mere candle or two. Inside a lonely woman sat reading a book and occasionally looking out of the window at the falling snow. Suddenly a noise startled her.

She looked around for whoever had made the sound. To her knowledge, she was all alone in the house.

Three days ago her uncle had left for a small neighbor town to help the local militia train new recruits. She heard another sound. With a determined look on her face, she stood up from her favorite chair and carefully placed her book on a nearby wooden table. She raised her right hand and whispered a few word. A small floating orb of light left her hand. It hovered a few feet above her head as she started to move around in the house.

"That's strange" she said to herself "nobody's here".

Outside, the girl sneezed again. Winter was her least favorite time of the year. Sure, all that snow was really pretty and fun to play in, but it wasn't very comfortable to sleep in. She pulled her old blanket tighter around her. Slowly she closed her eyes, hoping that the cold would just go away.

"Hello there. What are you doing out here?". Even though she was half asleep, the girls first reaction were to get away. After struggling for a little while, she realized that the woman in front of her had her in a tight grip.

"Easy there" the woman smiled warmly "I'm not gonna hurt you or anything". The girl stopped her struggling "I'm not trying anything. I just want to sleep. That's not a crime, is it?" she asked.

The woman shook her head "no of course not, but why are you out here? Why not be at home in a warm bed?". A single tear rolled down the girls cheek "I have no home" she sniffed. The woman nodded in understanding " I see. How would you like to come inside then?". Once again the girl started struggling "No! I wont!! You are that witch everybody else talks about!!!".

The woman lowered her head "I know what they are saying". Something about her behavior made the girl think her proposition over again. Finally she gave a nod, as a shiver ran through her body "ok, I'll come inside".

The woman stood up and started walking for the door "By the way, my name is Sylphiel. What's yours?". Carefully the girl followed "Anna, my name is Anna".

"I see" Sylphiel giggled "Welcome to my house then, Anna". Anna followed Sylphiel inside. The house really didn't look like she had expected from a witches house. In the small living room were some simple furniture. A table, some chairs and a small couch. A small fire were burning faintly inside the fireplace. Everything worked to give the room a nice and calm atmosphere.

"Mother would have loved this place" the girl whispered. "Huh? Did you say anything?" Sylphiel turned around to face her. Anna shook her head "No, I didn't" she smiled back. "I see. Why don't you find a place to sit down?" Sylphiel gestured to the couch "I'll go make us some tea. You look like you could use it".

Anna sat down and looked around. So far Sylphiel didn't seem to be the terrible witch everybody said she was. "Here you are" Sylphiel handed her a cup. Carefully Anna held the cup up to her face and smelled the liquid inside. "Don't worry" Sylphiel laughed "it's good". Anna nodded and took a careful sip.

A strange sensation started spreading in her mouth. "You're right miss Sylphiel, this is really good!" Anna giggled as she took another sip. Sylphiel nodded "It's my favorite flavor, orange and mint" She stirred her tea slowly, starring into the dying flames. "As I recall it was his favorite too…" she added absentminded.

"Who are you talking about, miss?" Anna asked. She had always been told that she was way to curious, but it didn't bother her much. How else was she supposed to learn anything if she didn't ask?.

Sylphiel gently padded her head "It's nothing you need to concern yourself with Anna" she said. Anna noticed how a tear was forming in the woman's eyes.

"Is something wrong?" Anna carefully asked. Sylphiel shook her head "no, of course not. The light is bothering my eyes, that's all". Anna nodded, still not convinced that the woman were telling her the truth. But it didn't matter much to her right now. The soft couch and hot tea had made her very sleepy, and gradually she drifted off to sleep.

The next morning Sylphiel woke at the sound of someone sneaking around in her house. She got out of bed and grabbed a cloak from her closet. Carefully she opened her bedroom door. Again she heard the sound, this time she was certain it came from the kitchen. She moved as silent as she could as she approached the door.

As she reached for the doorknob, something made her stop. What was it miss Lina always said? She tried her best to remember. A smile spread on her face "That's it!" she whispered "The best defense is a good offence". Gathering all her courage, she opened the door with a powerful shove. A loud noise could be heard all over the house as Anna dropped a jar filled with strawberry jam.

She was staring at Sylphiel with fear in her eyes. "I'm sorry" she whispered. Sylphiel let out a sigh of relief "Anna, don't scare me like that!" she panted "what were you doing anyway?".

Anna looked practically miserable. It had been her plan to steal some food and get out of the house before Sylphiel woke up. It just scared her seeing Sylphiel bursting through the door, wrapped in a pitch black cloak. "I… I wasn't doing anything miss. I swear! I wasn't going to steal your food". She fell silent when she realized that she had just blurted out her entire plan.

Sylphiel started smiling "you know, I would have given you some food if you had just asked for it".

She sat down next to the sobbing girl "here let me get that for you". Anna could only watch in silence as Sylphiel started to clean up the mess on the floor. "you are not going to tell the guards, are you? They'll send me to an orphanage for sure" she asked, tears forming in her eyes. Sylphiel shook her head "no, of course not".

Anna's face brightened "thank you, miss Sylphiel" she chirped "you are the nicest witch I know!".

Sylphiel titled her head a bit "Anna, why do you keep calling me a witch?" she asked. "I don't know really" Anna admitted "Everybody else does that. And that black cloak really isn't helping much".

Sylphiel looked down at herself "This… this isn't my cloak" she blushed "it belonged to a special friend of mine". Anna opened her mouth to ask another question, but the sad look on Sylphiels face stopped her.

"So Anna?" Sylphiel asked "what are you going to do now?". Anna stuffed another lump of Sylphiels home baked bread into her mouth "I don't know. I'll probably go back into town or something" she mumbled. Sylphiel shook her head, it was just so wrong that a girl this young shouldn't have a home with loving parents.

"You know" Sylphiel started "if you ever need something to eat or a warm place to sleep, you are more than welcome to come visit me". Anna nodded "I'll keep that in mind". She stuffed another lump of bread into her pocket "I'll be going now miss, bye! And thanks a bunch for the food". Anna waved happily as she left the small house.

Sylphiel kept standing in the doorway looking as Anna vanished into the city. "What a sweet little girl" She said to herself "I hope I get to see her again". A shiver ran through her body. She realized that she was still wearing only her nightgown and the black cloak she had taken from the closet. She hurried inside to get dressed.

Once back in her old purple outfit, she felt much more comfortable. She held up the cloak and studied it intensely. It had indeed belonged to a very special friend.

She sighed deeply. It had been a whole year since she returned from her latest adventure in the outer world. Another shiver ran through her body, but it wasn't caused by the cold this time. A whole year since the man she loved left her behind, and not a word from him since. No letters, no nothing. Not even any rumors about him. She had figured that a man like him would at least be the source of some rumors, but apparently she had been mistaken.

Anna walked through the crowded city, while chewing casually on the bread she had brought from Sylphiels house. This was all so confusing to her. The woman she had met last night was supposed to be some kind of evil witch responsible for the destruction of old Sairaag?

Anna shrugged, miss Sylphiel sure didn't look like she had imagined a witch. Instead of the old hag she had expected to see, Sylphiel was in fact a beautiful young woman. She acted a lot nicer that most other witches she had ever heard about.

"Hey look! It's Anna!" a boy pointed in her direction. Before she even knew it, a snowball hit her directly in the face. She fell to the ground. "Look!" The boy pointed at her again "it looks like the little girl has stolen a bread. We can't have thieves running around in our peaceful city, now can we?". He started advancing on her along with the other boy from the day before.

"Why can't you just leave me alone?" Anna cried "I've never done anything to you. And if you must know miss Sylphiel gave me that bread!". The first boy cracked his knuckles and advanced on her "and now you have even befriended the witch" he smirked.

Sylphiel was laying lazily on her couch reading a book. Even though she was still officially the towns best healer, she hadn't seen much business lately. Even though Amelia had convinced the townspeople to let the shrinemaiden move back into the town, not even the princess's influence was enough to make her trusted.

Most of the adults treated her like she wasn't there. The worst thing was that most of the children were afraid of her. Sylphiel had always liked children, so that part really bothered her. That was one of the reasons that she really like having Anna to talk to last night.

A knock on the door caused her to snap out of her thoughts. "Now who can that be?" she wondered out loud "uncle Gen usually don't knock. And in any case, I didn't think he would come back so soon".

She walked out to the door and opened it. "Anna?" she gasped "What happened to you?".

"I'm sorry miss" Anna sniffed "but I didn't have anywhere else to go". The girls clothes were all dirty and wet. In her head were visual bruises and a few cuts too. She clearly looked liked she had been in a fight.

"Dear Ceiphied! Please come inside Anna" Sylphiel waved her inside. "How did you manage to get beaten up like that?" she asked as she helped the young girl get to the guestroom.

The few times she had people in that needed healing, she always used that room. "Now let me take a look at you" Sylphiel gestured to the bed, indicating that Anna should sit down. She looked around in the room. It didn't look like it had seen much use recently. "Now take off your shirt" Sylphiel ordered. Anna blushed a little, but did as she was ordered.

"Ouch!" That hurt!" Anna tried to pull her arm away from Sylphiel. "Don't be such a baby" the shrinemaiden giggled "it's just some small injuries". Anna nodded while tears were forming in her eyes. Sylphiel shook her head "Here let me take care of it now". She reached out for the girl and started casting a healing spell.

Anna stared at herself as her wounds started healing all by themselves. "Wow! was that really magic?" she asked "I've never seen magic before!". Sylphiel smiled "it's nothing special, really".

Anna yawned loudly. Her body had exhausted itself as a result of the healing spell. "Why don't you stay here and sleep for a while?" Sylphiel asked "I don't mind". Anna nodded slowly and lay down trying to get comfortable. Moments later, she fell asleep.

Sylphiel quietly left the room. She kind of enjoyed having Anna around.

Authors notes:

So there you have it. The very first chapter of my brand new fic. I really hope that you all are going to like this just as much as the first one. As usual, reviews are more than welcome.


	2. Out for revenge

Disclaimer: The Slayers is owned by some rich Japanese guys, not by me

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Out for revenge

A traveler?

A man was struggling against the cold winds. Even though he tried his best to hold his long black cloak in it's place, he was only partial successful. A strong gush of wind blew his hood off.

"Damn!" he muttered as his long silvery hair started floating freely in the wind. He reached back and pulled the hood back in it's place.

"Master?" A small voice came from one of his pockets "I'm soooo cold, can't we stop somewhere?". The man shook his head "there's no place to stop around here Nimph" The man growled "I have to keep moving unless I want both of us to freeze to death". Another sigh came from the pocket "Just find a place to camp really fast, ok?". The man pulled the cloak tighter around him, hoping to keep to conserve what little body heat he could. He continued on.

As he moved forward through the forest, a small light caught his eye.

It was a small cabin, and judging from the light coming from the inside someone had to live there. He went up to the door and knocked "is there anyone in there?" he shouted.

He could hear that someone moved. "Who's there?" a gruff voice came from the inside.

"A traveler looking for shelter" the man shouted.

Slowly the door opened, and the man found himself looking straight into a large woodcutters axe. He jumped back and prepared for battle. The door opened further, revealing a large man behind the axe. "I thought you were pretty well spoken for a troll" he muttered, while lowering his axe. "You better come inside before you freeze to death". The man relaxed and followed the woodcutter inside.

He felt relived when he heard the door shut behind him. At least for the moment he had both warmth and shelter, and he didn't ask for much more at the time.

"You better sit by the fire young man" the woodcutter said. He didn't need to say that twice.

"My name is Aaron" the woodcutter introduced himself. "And this little beauty" he gestured to the elderly lady next to him "is my wife Sarah". The man pulled his hood back and shook a few drops of water out of his silvery hair "I'm called Eruk" he introduced himself "thanks for taking me in. I can't pay you much though…". Aaron slapped him on the back "don't worry about it, no one should be wandering out there in this weather anyway".

Suddenly Aaron took a step back, as a small head peeked up from one of Eruk's pockets. "Wow, it's pretty cozy in here, isn't it master?" Nimph the fairy giggled as she flew up from the wet piece of clothing and settled in on his shoulder. Her favorite spot..

Eruk noticed the elderly couples reaction. "Don't worry about her" he assured them "she's with me, and I assure you she wont cause any problems". He turned his head a little and looked directly into his small companions blue eyes "isn't that right Nimph? You wont do anything crazy, right?".

"Me?" the fairy pointed at herself, her face a mask of pure innocence "doing something crazy? Oh no master. I'd never do anything of the kind!"

Aaron nodded and put his axe away "Another of those creatures from the barrier lands huh?" he asked not really interested in hearing an answer. "at least it's not one more of those damn troll creatures" he added.

Eruk tensed "troll creature?" he asked. Aaron sat down by the small table "yeah. Shoved up a few weeks ago. Terrorizing us every night it is.".

Nimph scratched her head "isn't that what you came out here looking for master?" she asked.

Eruk nodded. He had spent the last year traveling around trying to dispatch all of Diol's chimera creatures. However, it seemed that every time he killed one, he heard the rumors of two or three more.

"Did that little creature just say that you came out here looking for that terrible thing?" Sarah asked, trying to mask her fear. Eruk nodded. "But why would you throw you life away trying to fight a terrible creature like that?" Sarah continued. Eruk shrugged "I'd rather not talk about that, but I assure you, I'm more than capable of taking care of this creature". Nimph nodded in excitement "this is going to be so much fun, right master?". Eruk sighed again. Fighting those creatures wasn't something he enjoyed, it was just something he had to do.

"Here you go young man" Sarah handed him another cup of tea. He accepted it gratefully. Having been outside in the cold for some time now, he had started to feel like he was turning to ice from the inside and out.

Nimph held out her cup "can I have another cup too please?" she asked. Sarah smiled happily, she had taken quite a liking to the little fairy already "of course you can. And with honey and sugar this times too little missy?". Nimph nodded happily, and absentmindedly started to play with her long blue hair.

Suddenly the atmosphere was broken by a loud roar from the outside. Aaron stood up and grabbed his axe "it's that damn troll creature again!" he shouted. Eruk took a deep breath and stood up as well. "I'll take care of this" he said "you stay in here". He let his cloak fall to the to the ground before he vanished through the door.

It was pretty dark outside, but it didn't bother him much. His eyes adjusted to the dark pretty fast. At least there were some good things with the enhancement Diol had cooked up. Not even the cold winds was bothering him anymore. At the thought of the coming battle, the adrenaline has already started to kick in.

A sound came from his left. He reacted by getting into his fighting stance. A huge troll like creature came crashing through the bushes. Eruk smiled to himself, once this battle was over with, he would have one less of these damned chimeras to worry about.

The creature stopped some distance away and stared at the silver haired warrior. Eruk knew that he had to be careful. Maybe the creature looked like a troll, but it still had almost human like intelligence, and a mazuko's drive for destruction.

It picked up the a fallen tree and started to swinging it around like a giant club. Eruk took a step back, three shiny blades shot from each of his hands, as he flexed his muscles. The enchanted wristblades he had got when he set out on his first journey was his preferred weapon. Not only were they extremely light, but they also had an enchantment to keep the blades hidden when not in combat. The blades however, was starting to show the signs of heavy use.

The chimera charged forward. Eruk nimbly dodged the attack by rolling out of the way. Before his opponent could react he jumped up on it's back. He planted his blades deeply in the creatures back. It howled out in pain.

"Damn" Eruk muttered "didn't get it".

The creature got hold on his left leg and slammed him down on the ground. He lost his breath for a second, but if it hadn't been for the snow, it would have been far worse. The creature brought it's club down in a forceful blow. Eruk had just enough time to get up to a sitting position before he blocked the blow with his blades. He fell back from the force of the blow. He took a quick look at his blades. They had been bent out of shape and was rendered pretty much useless.

He felt his anger rise. Those weapons had a special value to him. They were the only reminder of the life he once had.

With an enraged cry he jumped to his feet. His eyes had started to change color. Instead of emerald green, they gradually started to turn into crimson red. Now he was fighting two battles at once. One against the beast in front of him and one against the rage within his own body. He drew a small dagger from his boot. It wasn't a fearsome weapon in any way, but in his hands it exploded in flames.

"Die!" he shouted as he ran towards the chimera. He dodged it's attack easily, and plunged the dagger deep into the creatures body.

It exploded in flames. In a matter of seconds all that remained of the creature, was a smoking pile of ash.

Eruk fell to his knees and panted heavily. Using his power came at a great cost. Every time he did, he felt his control over his own body slipping.

"Master? Are you ok?" Nimph placed her hand on his head. Little by little he regained control. That was one of the reasons he still traveled around with the little hyperactive fairy. She had some strange power that helped him keeping his inner monster at bay.

"Nimph?" he whispered "I owe you one for this". The fairy giggled "does that mean you'll buy me an ice-cream when we get to a town?". He shook his head. No matter how hard he tried, there were times where he simply didn't understand her.

"Ok, don't move kid!" Aaron stood behind him, his axe ready to strike "I don't know who or what you are, but you better get out of here before I decided I like that troll better! No one should be able to do what you just did!".

Eruk nodded "I see". He stood up and started to walk away. "Could I at least have my cloak back?" he asked before the elderly couple vanished into their cabin. A few seconds later Sarah came running back out. "Here you are, young man" She handed him the cloak "take care". Eruk smiled, "I will". He turned away and started walking away.

He was feeling bitter. No matter how much he tried, he would always end up scaring people away from him. The fact that he was able to use magic didn't make it easier on him. It had only been a couple of years since travel between the barrier lands and the outer world had been made possible, and people were still very suspicious of the strange force called magic.

"Hey master, isn't that a cave over there?" Nimph pointed out to the mountain to his right. He took a closer look "Looks like you're right Nimph, good going". He got closer to the entrance. He edged himself inside the narrow entrance. It was a very small cave, but large enough to offer him shelter from the weather.

He took some food from his backpack. "Here Nimph, you need to eat too, don't you?" he handed her a small lump of bread. "Eeew what is this stuff?" Nimph stuck out her tongue.

"Look, it's all I got, don't complain" Eruk shot back. Nimph continued to stare at the bread in front of her. "I'd rather have some candy" she muttered.

Eruk shook his head, laughing a bit at his small companion. Sometimes his little fairy companion was just too funny to look at. He yawned, and leaned back on the wall, trying to get some sleep.

Authors notes:

There you have it. Two chapters, each one starring one of the two main characters of this fic. I will be doing this multiple storyline thing for a good part of the fic.

Another thing entirely, is that I wont update as often as I did with the first one. Writing "Between light and darkness" took me close to a year and a half. This one I have only been working on for about 4 months. And no, what I have posted here is by far not all of it, I have written plenty already. The reason for my slow updates is that I still have to go backwards in the story and change a few things as I go ahead. But have no fear! I will update from time to time, and I will finish this story.

I just hope that you stick around and check back with this story from time to time.

Oh, and one last thing…. Reviews tends to make me work a lot harder, so please let me know what you think about this fic, ok?


	3. Starting a new journey

Disclaimer: Do I even have to bother?

Starting a new journey

Invitation

Sylphiel woke at the sound of someone knocking on the door. She looked around in confusion, she had fallen asleep on the couch in the living room again. Recently she had spent so much time reading, that she quite often just read until she fell asleep. She rubbed her tired eyes "Be right there!" she called.

The knocking subsided.

She slipped her boots on, there was no need to worry about her clothes, seeing as she hadn't undressed the evening before. She made her way to the door. "Yes?" she peeked outside.

"Are you miss Sylphiel Nels Rahda?" a young man asked. She nodded. "I have a letter for you then" the man held out an envelope "have a nice day". He turned around and left.

"A letter? For me?" she wondered, while examining the envelope. It wasn't very often she got mail, and when she did it was usually her uncle writing when he was of training new recruits. But he had never written after being gone only a few days like this time, and he would NEVER use a pink envelope like this one.

She closed the door behind her as she went back inside.

She sat down by the small table in the kitchen and read the letter. Her eyes went wide with shock. The news inside was the last she had expected, and now of all times. She collapsed on the table in a fit of laughter.

"What's so funny?" Anna peeked into the room. Actually she had been awake for a while, but she had decided not to disturb the sleeping shrinemaiden.

Sylphiel looked up from the table "Oh Anna" she giggled "I didn't mean to wake you up". Anna shook her head "actually I was already awake. Now what were you laughing at?".

Sylphiel tried to explain, but couldn't. She was still laughing too hard. Instead she handed over the letter. Anna looked at the piece of paper for a while. "Ummm I can't read" she finally admitted.

She gave the letter back to Sylphiel. She had gotten over the worst of her outburst. "Don't worry, I'll just have to read it for you then". She cleared her troath and started reading.

To miss Sylphiel Nels Rahda

Hi there Sylphiel. Lina Inverse here!

I can't believe that I'm writing this, but it has happened. I know it sound weird, but Gourry and I finally decided to get married! I can't believe it! Anyway, I want you to be my maid of honor, along with Amelia. The date is set to be two weeks from now.

Prince Phill has promised that we can use the palace for the banquet, so we are naturally having the ceremony in Seyruun. I really hope that you'll accept the honor.

Just between the two of us, I also want you to keep an eye on Gourry for me. Otherwise I might end up hurting him, because I just know he'll end up forgetting something! Please Sylphiel!!! Please? Pretty please????

You know I won't take No as an answer

Lina Inverse

P.s. Feel free to bring a partner if you wish.

Despite her mixed feeling about Gourry getting married, there was no way she were going to miss this. "Does that mean that you are going to Seyruun?" Anna asked. Sylphiel nodded, but hesitated a bit by the sad look in the girls eyes. "How would you like to come with me Anna?" she finally asked. The girls face brightened "you mean, you'll take me along?" she asked, almost unable to believe what was happening. Until a few days ago, she had been sleeping on the streets, and now it looked like she were going to a wedding in the royal city of Seyruun.

The next few days were spent preparing for the trip. For once Sylphiel were really happy. The only thing that bothered her a little bit was that it was Gourry getting married. She had never gotten over her crush on the blonde swordsman. She sighed. At least he were going to be happy with Lina, that was all that mattered to her anyway. She was also happy that Anna wanted to come along, maybe Amelia would be able to give her a place to stay.

The only thing that really bothered her was the last few words in the letter about bringing a partner. It was quite obvious who Lina was referring to. Obviously she didn't know that he had been missing since he just vanished into the night. She didn't blame Lina however, even though they didn't keep close contact, there had always been a close bond between the two girls. To outsiders it might seem strange that they got along that well, seeing that they were different like night and day. They had started out as rivals of a sort, competing for the same man. But as time passed Sylphiel had realized that she never even had a chance with Gourry. She stepped a bit down and gave Lina and Gourry the room they had needed.

"Well, Anna" Sylphiel asked as she turned the key in the lock "Are you ready to go?". Anna nodded in excitement "I sure am!". With those words the two girls were on their way to Seyruun.

They walked through the snow covered streets of New Sairaag. Anna barely noticed how several of the boys that used to pick on her, as they sent her questioning looks.

"Hey Sis, can I ask you something?" Anna asked. She had started referring to the shrinemaiden as an older sister. Sylphiel didn't really mind, she had always wanted a younger sister.

"Yes? What is it Anna?" she turned her attention to the girl. "Well…" Anna blushed a little bit "I've been wondering for a while now, just who is this Lina inverse?".

Sylphiel Stopped walking "you don't know?" she asked, trying to hide her surprise. How anyone could not have heard of the infamous Lina Inverse was beyond her. "Looks like this trip wont be boring at all" She giggled "Even I don't know of all the stories that are being told of her, but I can tell you some pretty exciting things".

"Wow" Anna looked at Sylphiel with big eyes "You mean it was because of miss Lina that we can go to the outer world now?". Sylphiel nodded.

They were sitting at a small table at a small inn. For most of the day they had been walking towards Seyruun. Sylphiel had been a bit worried that the trip was a bit to long for Anna to handle, but she had kept up just fine. In fact, it was Sylphiel who had gotten tired first, and had insisted that they took a rest.

Fortunately the area inside the barrier lands were pretty heavy populated. As a result, there were countless minor villages where travelers could spend the night and get a meal.

The town Sylphiel and Anna had arrived in was one of those. Actually it was more of a trading post. Not many seemed to live there, but a lot of people seemed to travel through it.

In the beginning Sylphiel had hesitated to spend the night in a town like this. For some reason, she just had a bad feeling about this, but seeing how Anna slumped down in the chair made her stand by her first decision. Apparently the girl had been a bit more tired than first assumed.

She looked around. The inn wasn't really her kind of place. There was a lot of rowdy people there, mostly men, and that really bothered her. She wouldn't go as far as saying she hated that kind, but they definitely made her uncomfortable. The fact that she was all alone with a little girl, didn't make it any better. She had already seen several of the other guests sending her strange looks.

"Anna, we better go up to our rooms now" Sylphiel whispered as two of the other patrons started fighting. In the beginning she wondered why nobody tried to stop the fight, but she figured it was pretty normal in this place.

"Excuse me sir?" Sylphiel tried to get the innkeepers attention. Suddenly she felt someone put an arm around her. She slowly turned around. Behind her were a pretty large man

"Hi there pretty lady" he hiccuped "you working here?". At first she didn't understand what he was talking about, but from the way he looked her over she caught his meaning. She took a step back "Excuse me? Sir, you must be mistaken. I'm NOT that kind of girl!". Anna could only watch as the man continued to hug Sylphiel.

"Sir, I must insist that you let go of her, right now!" A man dressed in a beige clothes stepped up and pushed the drunkard away from Sylphiel. Anna hurried over and hid behind the shrinemaiden. The older girl kept staring at her helper, he was familiar to her.

"Mr. Zelgadis?" she asked.

The man looked back at her over his shoulder. Even though he was wearing his usual hood and mask, there was no mistaken that it was the gloomy chimera.

"You seem to have a special ability to get into trouble, don't you Sylphiel?" he smirked. Sylphiel lowered he eyes. She didn't like to admit it, but Zelgadis had a point.

"Hey mister, why don't you get out of here?" the drunkard growled.

"Have you gotten a room yet?" Zelgadis asked, ignoring the other patron completely. Sylphiel shook her head, but said nothing. Without a word Zelgadis tossed her a key.

Sylphiel picked it up and pulled Anna with her towards the stairs.

They had barely gotten upstairs before an explosion rocked the small inn. Sylphiel calmly placed the key in the lock to Zelgadis' room and turned it. She knew that Zelgadis would rather solve his problems fast. And just this once, she didn't mind.

They stepped inside. From the looks of it, she figured that Zel had been living here for a little time. Books were spread all over the room. It clearly indicated that he still were trying to find his cure. Not surprising though, it had been his entire reason for living for as long as she had known him.

She couldn't help but wonder what the chimera would do if he ever found out that no such thing as a cure existed for him. She doubted that though, it was a big world, and with new possibilities of it being hidden somewhere in the outer world, it would take more than his lifetime to look through all of it.

"Who was that man?" Anna asked, as she sat down on the bed. Sylphiel sat down next to her "he's an old friend of mine" she told her. Suddenly a thought occurred to her "Listen Anna" she started "This may be a little difficult to understand, but…".

Before she could say anymore, Zelgadis walked through the door. He had already removed his hood and mask. Sylphiel already knew how he looked, so he hadn't thought there was any use for it.

For a few seconds he and Anna stared at each other in deep silence. Sylphiel swallowed hard as the silence was broken by an ear piercing scream from Anna. "It's a monster!" She shouted and tried to hide behind Sylphiel. Zelgadis quickly turned around and pulled his hood and mask pack in place. "That's why I don't like little kids" he muttered before he turned around. "Sylphiel I'm ok with you, but who's the kid?" he asked. Sylphiel flinched a little from his rather harsh tone. He always talked that way, but it always took some adjustment on her part to get used to it.

"Anna, it's ok you can come out" Sylphiel giggled. The girl had crept behind her and was currently hiding under her cape. "But it's scary!" she whined and pointed at Zelgadis. "No, he's not" Sylphiel tried to save the situation. "Why don't you just say it as it really is Sylphiel?" Zelgadis muttered as he sat down on a chair "I'm a freak". Sylphiel took a deep breath, this was going to be a lot harder than she had expected. It didn't help her much that Anna already was scared out of her mind, and Zelgadis didn't seem interested in solving anything at all.

Authors notes:

So nice to see that most of my loyal readers are back :-)

Why is it that I always end up with Sylphiel and Zelgadis together? I wish I knew, but for some strange reason, the two of them compliment each other nicely.

And speaking of Zelgadis, I don't think I have ever seen anyone be afraid of him because of his… little skin problem… So I thought it would be right for Anna to be scared out of her mind when she saw his face.

Or am I mistaken?


	4. One time partners

Disclaimer: Don't own Slayers… Wish I did.

One time partners…

Reunion

"Sorry young man" The weapon smith handed the broken wristblades back to Eruk "This is beyond my ability to repair". Eruk nodded sadly. His wristblades were his preferred weapon, and now they were more or less useless. Somehow he had expected that none of the smiths he had sought out would not be able to help him out. The blacksmiths of the outer world were skilled craftsmen, but they had no grasp of repairing magical items whatsoever.

"I see. Well, thanks for trying anyway" Eruk exited the shop.

He reached into his cape and pulled out a dagger. "Not the most fearsome of weapons, but you'll have to do for now…" he mumbled and put the dagger back inside a pocket.

"Hey!! Will you watch out where you put that thing!!??" Nimph shouted from somewhere inside his cape. Eruk immediately stopped moving. He had thought he had a pretty good of the fairy's whereabouts, but apparently he was wrong.

"Nimph would you please stop pouting and tell me why you were rummaging through my pockets?" Eruk groaned. He had stopped at a small inn to grab something to eat. Nimph sat a little distance away and hat been strangely silent most of the day.

"How would you feel if someone almost stabbed you in your back?" Nimph shouted back "and in your own living room nonetheless!". He shook his head and put his fork down "look, I would have been more careful if you had just told me that you decided to make a living room in that pocket, ok?". He only got an snort in response.

"How about this then?" he suggested "I'll give you this to forget all about it". Nimph spun around "What!? I can't believe that you think you can bribe me to forget thi…is that a lollipop??". Eruk smiled to himself, his little companion was quite hotheaded at times, but he could always get his way by bribing her with candy. "Ok!" she cheered " I guess I can forgive you then!". She snatched the candy away from him and started tearing away at the wrapping.

Eruk finished his food and leaned back. He was determined to enjoy this meal for as long as he could. Even though he spent most of his time hunting surviving chimeras from Diol's army, he also took jobs as a mercenary once in a while. That business had been rather poor lately and this meal was actually bought for the last of his money.

"I've got to think of something, and that fast" he mumbled to himself. "Is something wrong master?" Nimph peeked out from behind her lollipop.

He nodded "Yeah, that lollypop I gave you, are actually our last food". She titled her head "Why don't you just hire out as a mercenary as you usual do?" she asked. "There isn't any work for my kind around here" he sighed "Besides, who would hire an unarmed mercenary anyway?". He pulled out his dagger "This is the last weapon I have left. Not the most fearsome sight is it?" he sighed again.

"Excuse me young man" en elderly gentleman poked his shoulder. Eruk quickly looked him over. He appeared as a typical village elder. He was wearing a long brown robe that reached all the way down to the floor. The thing that made Eruk a bit suspicious of the man was that he was wearing a hood that hid his all of his face.

"I'm sorry, but I couldn't help hearing what you were talking about. If you are available for hire, I have a job that needs done" the man said. Eruk nodded and decided to give the man the benefit of a doubt. It wouldn't be the first person with a strange taste in wardrobe that had crossed his way.

"I'm listening" he said calmly. The man cleared his troath "My name is Tahrin, and I'm the elder of this village. Some time ago a fearsome beast started living in the mountains near here". Eruk leaned towards the old man "What kind of beast are we talking about here?" he asked curiously. "Actually we don't know" Tahrin shook his head "I've never seen that kind of creature before, but none of our village guards want to go out after it. Can't really blame those young lads. The beast have already killed some of them".

Eruk smiled to himself, this was just to lucky. The creature was most likely another chimera, and if he played his cards right, he could get paid for slaying this one.

"We would gladly pay 200 gold coins if someone could slay the beast" Tahrin went on. Eruk nodded again "sounds good, I'll take the job". The old man clapped his hands in joy "good! But I'll have to warn you, I hired a sorceress from the barrier lands just this morning. If you don't hurry, I think she'll do the job and get the reward before you can".

"Umm master?" Nimph peeked up from his pocket. "This place is just way too creepy" she complained. The mountain region he had found outside the town was definitely not a place Eruk fund compelling at all. It was all desolate rocks. It had been some time since he had seen trees or birds. In fact it had been a while since he had seen anything living besides himself and the fairy. "I know what you mean Nimph" he admitted "this place kinda freaks me out too".

He climbed atop of a large boulder to get a better view of the surroundings. It was a depressing sight. The wasteland continued on for what seemed like forever. Suddenly something caught his eye. Smoke was rising out in the distance. It was to far away for him to determine the source, but a feeling told him that it was what he was looking for.

"Nimph, hang on tight" he ordered "we are going". Nimph nodded eagerly and Eruk started running. He had discovered long ago that when he concentrated hard, he could move faster than any normal human. "Wheee!!" Nimph squealed in delight, she loved when he was running at his top speed.

As he got closer to the smoke, he started hearing the sounds of battle.

"Seems like the sorceress got here before I did" Eruk concluded. He hid himself behind a large boulder in order to avoid detection while he checked out the situation.

He looked down into a small valley. He had been right about the creature, it was one of the chimeras. It was fighting something down there. He narrowed his eyes in an attempt to identify the other creature.

The creatures opponent were way to big to be a sorceress, or a human for that matter. He moved a little bit closer. With a mighty blow, the chimera took out it's opponent.

"Of course" Eruk whispered as the shape of the chimeras enemy crumbled into dust "it was a golem, and a pretty weak one at that". He moved closer, where there were a golem, there usually were a sorcerer or sorceress.

His eyes fell on a crouching shape a little distance away. Even though he way pretty far away, there was no need to look twice, he would be able to recognize that outfit anywhere. "Naga the serpent" he whispered "what are you doing here?"

"Damn!" Naga frowned as yet another of her golems crumbled into dust.

"VU VRIMER!" She called out and placed her hand on the ground. Another golem rose to fight his creators opponent. Naga took a step back, this golem weren't as powerful as she had intended it to be. The fight had lasted several hours already, and Naga had to admit that she was starting to tire out.

"At least there is no one around to witness this" she whispered as she moved further away. Fleeing was beyond her dignity, but a strategically retreat was, given the situation, perfectly acceptable. A single attack from the chimera made the golem grumble. It started to advance on Naga. It was furious at the woman who had been attacking it, and it was determined to end the battle here and now.

"You look like you could need a hand miss?". Naga spun around, startled by the voice coming from behind her.

She found herself staring at a man in a black cloak. He was a bit smaller than herself, and because of his hood, she couldn't get a clear look at his face.

"You just stay out of this!" she hissed "this reward is mine!". Eruk shook his head, this was just so typical of Naga. She refused to give up, even when faced with an opponent she couldn't beat. He had to wonder if she was stupid, or just extremely overconfident. Knowing Naga, he settled on the last option.

He deepened his voice a bit more, he wouldn't want to be recognized just yet. He had enjoyed traveling with Naga in the past, but not so much that he was eager to resume their partnership.

"Who are you?" She asked, seemingly forgetting all about the enraged chimera. Eruk pushed his way past her "There's no need to worry about that at the moment". He reached for his dagger "for the moment, all you need to know it that I'll be taking over this fight".

He advanced on the chimera "let me see what you got" he teased it.

He knew from experience that they were pretty smart. But if he could get it even more enraged than it already was, it would most likely forget thinking. He dashed forward, dodging a blow and slashing it side open as he passed. The creature howled in pain.

"Yes, pain isn't so fun when you are the victim" he smirked as he turned around to face it again.. He was alive at times like this, truly alive. and it disgusted him. He knew that that the pleasure he felt was not his alone, the beast inside him had a large role in it too. "You ready to try your luck again?" he teased it. It howled and charged forward again. Eruk turned his back to it. From the first attack he had sensed that the creature was tired, it gave him some room to show off.

"What do you think you are doing?" Naga shouted. Turning his back to an opponent? Was this idiot for real? "Watch out!" she shouted and closed her eyes. If he insisted on getting killed, fine! But there was no way she was gonna look at it. She couldn't stand the sight of blood.

Eruk stood still and focused on listening. The creature were getting closer and closer. "Now!" he whispered. He jumped as high as he could. In midair he balled together and did a somersault. During his fall he readied his dagger and slashed the creatures back open. "Now to end this!" he shouted, as he spun around to deliver a horizontal slash. He channeled as much power as he could into his dagger. As the dagger connected, the creature erupted in flames. "That's another one taken down!" He put his dagger away. "I wonder how many more before I can return home?" he added with a sigh.

"How did you do that?" Naga jerked him around. The sudden movement made his hood fall of. Acting fast, he turned away from her.

"Wait a second, I know you!" she shouted. He pulled his hood back up "I don't think so Miss" he stuttered.

"Oh master! There you are!" Nimph flew up to him and landed on his shoulder. "you were great!!" she cheered, before she spun around "oh hi miss Naga!".

Eruk rolled his eyes, he was busted and he knew it. Slowly he took his hood off and turned around "Miss Naga, we meet again". The tall woman stared at him for a few seconds before she recognized him completely. "Sidekick!" She shouted and hugged him tightly.

"MPHFF??" Eruk mumbled as he was pressed tightly up against the sorceress' breasts, almost choking him in the process. He pushed himself away, "I'm glad to see you too" he said and turned away. "Master? Why is your face all red?" Nimph asked curiously while poking at his cheek.

"I can't believe you actually tried to avoid me!" Naga complained. She had decided to follow Eruk back to the town and claim her part of the reward. "And I sure don't hope that you forgot that you still owe me some money from that adventure last year…" Naga continued.

"So, what have you been up to all this time sidekick?" Naga asked curiously. They had stopped at the local inn for the night. Just like old times, Naga had insisted that he paid for everything, ignoring totally that he had still not been paid for slaying the chimera creature. "Nothing much" he shrugged "Spent most of my time hunting down those chimeras that escaped". Naga almost choked on her drink "You mean that you go up against those things willingly?" she blurted out. "I guess?" he took another sip of his tea "I am part of the reason everything happened, this is my way of atoning for my past".

"Ah, there you are!" an old man walked up to them "I heard that you had returned young man". He stopped walking and looked Naga over "And you even managed to get the sorceress back in one piece, I see" he chuckled.

Naga gave an insulted snort. Him? Saving her? It was more the other way around in her mind.

"Just the man I wanted to see" Eruk stood up and greeted the village elder "now about my reward?". The old man took a step back and scratched his head nervously "actually, I can't afford to do that…" he laughed nervously "we are a poor village after all". Eruk groaned, of course this had to happen.

"What do you mean?" Naga stood up and shook the elderly man "I demand that we get paid!" She shouted.

"There may be another way" the elder managed to brake free of the woman's chokehold. He reached into his robes and took out a golden ring. "Will this do miss?" he asked carefully. Naga took the ring and examined it closely. It was a simple gold ring, but the black stone imbedded in it fascinated her. "Very well" she put the ring into a pocket in her cape "this will do".

Eruk looked out the window and suppressed a frown, he did all the work, and she got paid for it?. He looked nervously at the waiter that brought the bill. Nagas actions meant that he would have to work off their debt by helping out for most of the night, again.

Night came quietly. Eruk were busy washing dishes and Naga was sleeping soundly. Outside the inn, the village elder stood in the shadow of a large tree. "So the game has begun. The demon dragon king has received his gift. Now to get the others to Lina…" he whispered. His purple eyes were glowing as he vanished into the astral plane.

Authors notes:

Ah yes, the return of Naga the serpent. What can I say? I really think that Naga is a great character, just too bad most people tend to see her as the annoying sidekick.

Heh heh, maybe I should start a minor character promotion foundation?

But back to the story. Naga and Eruk, back together again as a team. And this time they stay together (until I make another of my infamous plot twists)

And talking about the plot… I wonder who Tahrin, the village elder really is? Purple eyes, loves to manipulate, astral travel. Could it have been a certain priest in disguise?

Actually I was a bit worried that I didn't have the time to get this update online before I go on a weeks holiday. But then again, knowing myself, I'm probably still thinking up new things to the plot, even if I'm supposed to be relaxing.

Happy reading everyone


	5. A woman of dreams?

Disclaimer: Even with my vast collection of Slayers stuff, I still don't own the concept. Just this fic.

A woman of dreams?

Arrival to Seyruun

"… So you see Anna, Mr. Zelgadis is not really a bad guy" Sylphiel finished her tale. "Is it really true?" Anna looked at the chimera as to confirm Sylphiel explanation. The chimera in question had picked out one of his books and was studying it intensely. He didn't care for children, but he didn't want Sylphiel unhappy either. So he had chosen the best escape the small room could offer, just look for possible leads to a cure and shut everything else out.

"Mr. Zelgadis?" Sylphiel carefully placed a hand on her shoulder. Almost instinctively, he tried to get away from the unexpected sensation. "Sorry!" Sylphiel quickly took her hand away, she should have remembered how he hated to be touched. "What is it?" he asked and closed his book. "Well…" she hesitated "I was just wondering what you were doing here?". He sat down on his bed "isn't it pretty obvious?" he asked, while pulling out a pink envelope from his outfit. "You got one of those too?" Sylphiel giggled as she recognized Linas wedding invitation. "Of course I did" a smile crossed his face "I bet Lina would even invite Gaav and Phibrizzo if it meant getting more presents".

Even though Sylphiel giggled at his joke, the mentioning of Gaav made her feel sad inside. "And to top it all of" Zel continued "she wants me to be the best man". He shook his head, it made a chill run down his spine just thinking of all the people who would be staring at him during the ceremony. Sylphiel yawned a bit and rubbed her eyes "I think I'll go to sleep now" she said "If we press on tomorrow, we should reach Seyruun in a day or two".

The next morning, Zelgadis tapped the door to his room for the fourth time. During his travels he had learned better that to just barge inside when there was a woman there. While he would most likely not face the danger of being blown up, he still refused to go inside until Sylphiel had allowed him to. "Are you ready to leave yet?" he asked impatiently. He had been waiting for almost 30 minutes already. "I'm so sorry Mr. Zelgadis!" Sylphiel huffed. She had wanted to take her time in getting ready as she usually did. However, traveling with Zelgadis meant no time for luxuries. The chimera himself rarely spent much time in the same place. Some of the advantages his body offered was that he didn't tire out as easily as a normal human, and he didn't feel the same need to eat or sleep. However, he would never admit that his cursed body actually had some advantages.

"Miss Sylphiel" Anna tucked the shrine maidens cape "why do we have to follow that creepy guy around?". The girl still hadn't gotten used to the moody chimera, and did everything she could to make sure that Sylphiel always were between herself and Zelgadis.

The shrine maiden crouched down next to the girl "He's my friend, Anna" she whispered "He may act and look a little strange, but he's not a bad guy". She lowered her voice even more when commenting the chimeras looks. She didn't want to accidentally hurt his feelings. "I see… but I still think he's a bit creepy" Anna nodded, sounding still a bit uncertain of the chimera.

The day passed slowly without much notice. Sylphiel sighed deeply as the sun slowly vanished behind the horizon. For the last hour she had been carrying Anna piggyback. She had exhausted herself trying to keep up with the two adults. "How long before we can stop for a rest?" Sylphiel asked. She too, was starting to feel very tired. "There should be a town just up ahead" Zelgadis sighed. He hadn't planed on stopping just yet, but he should have expected something like this. Sylphiel wasn't as trail worn as himself, and Anna was just a kid. "You know, I can carry her if you are getting tired" he offered. "No, that's ok. I thinks she's still a bit afraid of you". Sylphiel declined with a smile, hoping that he took no offence.

"There it is" Zel pointed at the lights straight ahead. "Thank heavens" Sylphiel sighed. She felt like she was ready to drop any minute now.

It didn't take long before they found an inn.

What a day Sylphiel thought to herself _I never expected to run into Mr Zelgadis like that._ She pulled the blanket tighter around her. This wasn't a first class inn in any way. Neither Sylphiel nor Zelgadis had brought much money. They had been able to persuade the innkeeper to let Anna sleep near the fireplace where it was warm. Very unlike the room she had gotten. The icy wind was blowing in through various cracks and holes in the wall. She just hoped that Zelgadis wasn't freezing too much out in the stable. Had she not been so tired, she probably wouldn't have been able to sleep in such a place. _At least it's not snowing anymore…_ she thought as she drifted off to sleep.

"Where am I?" Sylphiel looked around in confusion. She was standing on a seemingly endless field. The air around her was filled with the sound of birds singing. She crouched down and picked a flower. "So beautiful…" she whispered.

"I see that you have come", she spun around as she heard a voice coming from behind her. "How do you like my place?" A beautiful woman with long green hair was standing a little distance away. "So how do you like my little place?" the woman repeated as she spread her arms wide open. "It's so beautiful here" Sylphiel whispered in awe "but where are we?".

She had never felt at ease like this before. "You don't have to trouble yourself over that" the woman laughed "This is my little paradise. Here is everything anyone could desire". Sylphiel continued to look around taking in both the views and the smells "everything?" she asked carefully. "Everything" the woman nodded in response.

She turned her head slightly to the left. Sylphiel followed her gaze. In the distance someone was walking towards them. She narrowed her eyes. There was something familiar about the person.

"No, it simply can't be" she whispered as she recognized the person. "Hello Sylphiel, it's been a while" he greeted her as he brushed a strand of silvery hair away from his face.

"Eruk dear!" She threw himself towards the man. Suddenly her vision became blurry. "Not so fast my dear" she heard the woman's voice in distance "there will be plenty of time for that in the future".

"Eruk dear!" Sylphiel sat up in bed with a shock. Her room was silent. Even the wind had subsided.

"A dream" she whispered "only a dream". A tear formed in her eye. "It was all so real" she raised her hand to dry her eyes. "What's that?" she whispered to herself as she felt something in her hand. She almost choked as she opened it. In the pale moonlight she recognized it as a flower. The flower she had picked in her dream. "What's going on here?" she asked herself as she slipped back down under her blanket.

"Sylphiel are you up yet?" Zelgadis knocked on the door "we should get going as soon as possible". Sylphiel suppressed a yawn. Actually she had been unable to sleep after that dream. "I'll be ready in a minute" she called back.

Zelgadis nodded and headed down to the restaurant. He preferred to travel alone any day, but Sylphiel wasn't the worst companion he could wish for. There was no way that she could be as much trouble as Lina was.

"'morning Mr. Zelgadis" Anna greeted him. "Well, that was certainly unexpected" he muttered under his breath as he sat down by the table. "I thought you were afraid of me, girl?" he took a sip of his tea. Anna shrugged "well, you are not really a bad guy after all, just a bit scary looking".

"Good morning you two" Sylphiel greeted both of them as she entered the room. "'morning Sylphiel" Anna called back and stuffed another piece of toast into her mouth. She sat down at the table next to Zelgadis. "So, how long before we get to Seyruun?" she asked. Zelgadis put his cup down "If we don't waste any unnecessary time, we should be able to get there before noon". Sylphiel nodded "that's good, I don't like the cold weather much".

Suddenly Zelgadis tensed. "Sylphiel?" he moved closer to the shrinemaiden. "W…what is it?" She suppressed a blush. She felt a little stupid, but she just wasn't used to being so close to another person. "That flower you have there?" he asked. She relaxed as she picked the flower out of her hair "You mean this one? Isn't it pretty?". Zelgadis held out his hand "let me see that" he demanded. Without a word, she handed it over.

"Where did you get it?" he asked bluntly. "I… I don't know" Sylphiel was starting to get a little nervous about the whole ordeal. It was only a flower anyway. "I was holding it when I woke up" she continued "I know it's pretty unusual, but it's still not worth getting so worked up over is it?".

Zelgadis held the flower between two fingers "Not worth getting so worked up over? I've never even seen that kind of flower before. But I'm pretty sure that they don't grow around here, much less during winter". Sylphiel nodded slowly as she started to remember her dream. Now that she thought about it, none of the flowers had seemed familiar to her.

"What are you two talking about?" Anna inquired "shouldn't we get going or something?". Zelgadis handed the flower back and stood up "yes, we should". Sylphiel gently padded the girl on the head "what's gotten into you all of a sudden?" she giggled "why so impatient?". Anna almost jumped up and down in her seat "He said that we could reach Seyruun today. I can't wait to see the royal city!".

"Are we there yet?" Anna was starting to get impatient. "Just a little longer" Sylphiel promised. Even though the weather had been fine for a few days now, there was still plenty of snow on the ground and it made travel a bit more difficult than usual. "In a couple of hours we should be able to see it" Even though Sylphiel was starting to doubt that they ever reached Seyruun with their current speed. "You shouldn't lie to her Sylphiel" Zelgadis told her off "If we don't do something about it, I don't think there's any chance we'll reach Seyruun today". Sylphiel carefully brushed some snow away from a fallen tree "I guess you are right" she sighed. "I had hoped that we wouldn't have to sleep at an inn again tonight" she added in a tired voice.

"Don't give up so easily" Zelgadis sat down next to her "I said unless we do something about it, didn't I?". A smile grew on her face as she caught on to his meaning. "you are talking about…?" she asked, just to make sure that she had understood his meaning. "What? What?" Anna was beginning to feel left out of the conversation. "Oh nothing Anna" Sylphiel giggled "but I hope you aren't afraid of heights".

"This is so awesome!" Anna shouted in delight as the three of them flew towards the white capital. Inside the wind barrier Zelgadis had created, they were sheltered to the cold winds outside. Sylphiel did her best to stabilize the small sphere. One person could easily use the ray wing spell to fly around, but traveling in bigger groups actually took a lot of work on the casters side. Having two or more people working together was really a good idea.

"Hey, I see the city now!" Anna pointed out towards the horizon. Little by little, the many houses and towers of the great white capital became visible to the three travelers. "Finally" Sylphiel whispered. She hadn't done any magic for quite awhile and this was really starting to tire her out.

"Sylphiel, hang on tight" Zelgadis ordered "We're landing here". The small sphere descended down into the nearby woods and landed softly in the snow.

"Why didn't we fly all the way there?" Anna asked. She secretly had hoped that they would be landing in the middle of the town. "We are landing here because this is actually hard on both of us" Zelgadis growled "and I don't want to cause a commotion by landing in the middle of the city".

"I… I'm sorry" Anna stuttered.

Zelgadis sighed and started walking. He hadn't intended to sound so gruff, but he wasn't used to be around children like that. "Come on Anna, he didn't mean it like that" Sylphiel tried her best to comfort the child. "I'm sure you make him just as nervous as he makes you" she added with a warm smile. Unnoticed by both of the girls, Zelgadis slowly shook his head in amazement.

When he first met Sylphiel several years back, he had considered her a love-sick airhead. "Things sure have changed" he whispered to himself. The shrinemaiden had actually proven to be valuable alley in combat and a true friend on more than one occasion.

It was late afternoon when the three entered the town. Even though the sun had set some time ago, the town of Seyruun was still bustling with activity. Philionel had been smart enough to put streetlights on every street corner and in important places. Not only did they provide light for the citizens, they also helped reduce what little crime there was.

"I don't think I've even seen a town like that" Anna said in awe. "Sairaag used to be the same way" Sylphiel whispered.

The trio continued through the town. "Well, looks like we are here" Zelgadis announced as they approached the palace. "What a huge house!" Anna shouted in awe.

"Who goes there?!" a loud voice demanded. Sylphiel turned around and saw one of the palace guards approach. "Good evening sir", she greeted the young man politely. "Good evening to you too, miss" the guard stopped walking "do you have any business here?". Sylphiel nodded slowly "we are here for the wedding, of course" she explained.

"In that case" the guard lowered his weapon "can I see your invitations?". Sylphiel started searching through her pockets "that's funny" she wondered "I was sure that I had the letter right here". No matter where she looked however, the invitation was no where to be found. "I'm sorry miss, but if you don't have an invitation I can't let you in" the guard said.

"Mr. Zelgadis?" Sylphiel asked "didn't you have an invitation as well?". The chimera shook his head "I must have lost it somewhere along the road today" he muttered. It wasn't like him to lose any of his possessions, but the fact of the matter was that it was nowhere to be found.

"Are we being sent away?" Anna asked. "No, not really" the guard scratched his head "but I have orders not to let anyone in after sunset. Why don't you come back tomorrow and we'll clear things up then?".

With a sigh Sylphiel turned around "I guess we'll do that then". She started walking away. She was actually a bit disappointed that they weren't allowed inside, she really had looked forward to seeing her friends again, but rules were rules.

"I guess we should find an inn" Zelgadis suggested. He was smiling to himself. The truth was, that he was actually a bit nervous about seeing Amelia again. Sure, he could have gotten inside the palace quite easily. He still had Amelia's bracelet in his possession, that would be all the proof of their identity they would need. He let his hand slip into the pocket where he kept it safe. He needed some more time to think.

Authors notes:

So, Zelgadis and Sylphiel has finally arrived in Seyruun. I guess that means that they'll soon meet up with everyone's favorite sorceress and swordsman. But before that happens, they'll have a little run in with and old friend. I believe that you wanted to know what had happened to her, didn't you Airi-Chan?

But if you can't guess who I'm talking about, I guess that there is nothing else to do than just keep reading


	6. Bad luck

Disclaimer: Nope, slayers isn't mine… yet…

Bad luck

Being the sidekick is a hard work

Eruk sat on a wooden bench and stared out of the window. It was a beautiful night. The sound of a cold winter breeze reached his ears. Because of the cold weather, not a cloud could be seen in the sky. Eruk leaned back and stared out at the endless night sky. The big round moon and the twinkling stars almost called out to him. It was times like this where he really wished that he could just go outside and get lost in his own thoughts.

He let out a deep sigh.

"What's the matter master?" Nimph landed on his head. He stood up and grabbed the metal bars in front of the window "We're in prison Nimph" he sighed. Realization hit the fairy as she looked around "what? Do you mean that you've been bad while I was sleeping?".

Holding a chuckle at bay, he pointed over in the corner "that's the reason we're here".

In the corner of the prison, Naga was sleeping on the floor. Judging from the way she was clutching a large bottle in her sleep. She was obviously drunk, again. "Uh oh" Nimph whispered "what did she do this time master?". Eruk shuddered at the mere thought of what had been going on that night.

It had all started out as a pretty normal evening. While Eruk was getting ready to do his usual work at the inn to pay for their stay, Naga was drinking as usual. As the evening passed, it seemed like it could have been any other night, if Eruk had just ignored the commotion he heard coming from the restaurant area.

Acting like he thought was best, he had looked out from the kitchen. The sight that met him caused all blood in his body to run to his head. Naga was standing on a table and making a complete fool of herself.

He had tried to convince her to just go to bed and sleep before she did anything she later would regret. Unfortunately she had slipped in a small puddle of wine as she climbed down, causing both of them to fall and crash into one of the female spectators. It turned out that she was the daughter of the towns paranoid mayor, and because Eruk had dropped his dagger when he fell, the crazy old man thought that the strangers were there to kill his daughter. Next thing that happened was that both he and Naga was thrown into a prison.

"But why didn't you fight them master?" Nimph asked "I know that you could win". Eruk shrugged "I guess Icould, but it wouldn't be a good idea to fight an entire town". He lowered his head "besides, if I did that I would be no better than the beast inside me". For once it seemed like his diminutive companion understood what he meant. She could see that he was struggling to remain human, despite the fact that he had been artificially fused with Gaav, the demon dragon king. She opened her mouth to say something but he cut her off "Go to sleep Nimph. I'm sure they'll let us out tomorrow". With those words he leaned back against the wall an closed his eyes.

"Master?" Nimph gently poked Eruk's nose.

Slowly he opened his eyes "What is it now?" he asked sleepily. "I'm so sorry that I had to wake you up, but I hear scary sounds coming from the outside" the tiny creature looked around. "There's nothing out there" he yawned "go back to sleep". Slowly he turned around in hope of getting more sleep.

"But master!" Nimph squealed. She was hovering in front of the window and were shooting nervous glances outside. Eruk raised his head "look, I'm trying to sleep here, could you be a bit more quiet?" he complained. Nimph nodded sadly, if the master wanted to sleep it was not her place to interfere.

"I wonder what those strange lizard people are doing outside?" she wondered out loud "that bomb sure looks big…".

Eruk woke up just in time to find himself flying through the room.

"What the…!!?" he shouted as he landed on top of Naga. Slowly the sorceress opened her eyes "Sidekick…" she mumbled "it's way to early for that". She turned over and closed her eyes again. Eruk had turned into several shades of red by her remark, but he did his best to preserve his cool.

"What happened?" he shouted, while he did his best to climb away from the sleeping sorceress without waking her up again. "I tried to warn you, didn't I?" Nimph smirked. He sighed, she had warned him after all. "But look at the big hole they made in the wall" The fairy pointed at the place where he had been sleeping moments before.

"I have to say, I don't know what's going on here" Eruk smirked "but it looks like we've got ourselves a way out of here". He turned around "let's go miss Naga", he ordered.

"G'way wanna sleep" she snorted and clutched the bottle even tighter. Eruk shrugged "No choice then". He crouched down next to the sleeping sorceress and picked her up. "Nimph, we're getting out of here" he shouted.

"What is going on here?" Eruk ran through the once peaceful town. Now it was a town in state of chaos. Lizardmen were running amok through out the entire city. "This isn't good master" Nimph concluded. "I know, Nimph" Eruk agreed, "but there is nothing we can do about it now. Miss Naga is still sleeping and I'm unarmed".

__

This really is bad he thought as he ran on. Several of the burning buildings had already started collapsing. "Master! Look out!" Nimph warned. Eruk heeded her warning just in time to avoid being crushed by one of the buildings.

"That was just a little to close" he gasped as he dusted himself off.

"Could you please keep it quiet…?" Naga growled, before she realized exactly where she was. It was the first time ever that she had woken up in a burning city, while being carried by a man she only just had been reunited with a few days ago. The whole experience was so now to her that she didn't even thought about complaining.

"Sleeping beauty finally decided to wake up, I see" Eruk smirked and put her down. "What's going on here?" she asked while eyeing him suspiciously "did you do something bad again sidekick?". Eruk made an innocent face "I didn't do anything!" he assured her. "Ummm master" Nimph pointed at something behind him "Are they nice people".

Eruk spun around. Behind him was three lizardmen. Slowly the reptilian creatures advanced on him. "Miss Naga, can't you do anything about them?" Eruk asked while he backed away.

"Oh no more?" Naga held her bottle up and shook it. "Figures" he mumbled "I finally have the need of a skilled sorceress, and she's too drunk to use her powers…". He stood up "I guess I'll have to do what I can do then".

He took a step forward "You creatures better turn back if you know what's good for you" he threatened. He knew that he was outnumbered, but after surviving what he already had, he was determined not to lose to some good for nothing reptiles.

"You go master!" Nimph cried and waved a small flag with a picture of his face around. It hadn't even occurred to her that he was actually in a bit of trouble.

"Damn" Eruk muttered as one of the lizards got a lucky blow on his left arm. He was bleeding, but he ignored it. Suddenly he heard a loud bump behind him.

Naga had fainted the moment she saw the traces of blood he had left in the snow. He pushed one of his opponents away. Seeing Naga's limp form on the ground gave him a great idea. In all the time he had know the tall sorceress, she had been carrying around a sword. He let himself fall to the ground and rolled over next to her.

With a swift movement he drew the sword from it's sheet. Much to his surprise, he found that it was a actually a pretty good sword. It was perfectly balanced and lightweight. Even though he had not even made a swing with it yet, he had no doubt that it was sharp as well.

"Alright, time to play!" he spun around and faced his opponents. Even though he had never actually used a sword in a real battle before, everything seemed so simple. He swung the sword downwards and dispatched one of the lizardmen.

"That's one down, two to go" he teased the remaining two. One of them charged him, seemingly blinded with rage. He dodged the blow but failed to make a counterattack. "These guy's are better than they look" he muttered to himself. He raised his sword high and took a few steps towards the closest lizardman. The creature raised it's sword in an attempt to block the blow. However, just before Eruk could hit his opponents weapon, he spun around and made an attack at the creatures legs. Taken by surprise it stumbled backwards out of balance. It only took a blow from the hilt of the sword, and the creature was out cold.

The last lizardman started to back away when it suddenly froze solid. "That's what you get for picking a fight with me, the great Naga" the tall sorceress exclaimed. She had seemingly gotten over her initial shock from seeing blood and was ready to fight.

"And let that be a lesson for all of you" she stood up and brushed the snow of her body. The arrogant look was back on her face. "Back to your old self again, I see" Eruk sighed, It never ceased to amaze him how fast she was able to recover from the effects of alcohol.

"Watch that tone around me sidekick" Naga threatened "You should be honored to serve under one as great as I". Eruk backed away, Naga was no Lina Inverse, but experience had taught him to watch it around crazy sorceresses, and Naga could definitely be put in that category.

"I'm sorry" he gave her a small bow "your magic really helped out, as did your sword". Naga blinked a few times "My… sword?" she asked in confusion. He held out he blade "yeah, sorry. I was just borrowing this for a while".

Naga stared at the weapon for a few seconds. Seeing the sword drawn was new to her, even though she had been carrying it ever since she ran away from home so many years ago. It had been a family treasure for generations.

"Well, it's nice to see it put to good use for a change" she admitted. Suddenly she got a great idea "why don't you hold on to it for a while?" she suggested.

"Oh miss Naga, you are the best!" Nimph cheered "giving the master a new weapon like that!". Eruk eyed her suspiciously "are there a catch to this?" he asked. "Well, you ARE my sidekick and seeing that your magic isn't as powerful as mine, you would be a better help if you are armed". Eruk nodded slowly. He hadn't expected that she possessed that kind of insight, or kindness. "Of course, the rent of that sword will come out of your share of what treasure we might find" she added under her breath.

"This is really horrible" Naga shouted as they ran through the now burning city. Lucky for them there was no signs of anymore lizardmen around. "I know" Eruk agreed "I've never heard of Lizardmen attacking towns like this". They ran around a corner.

"You people!" a voice came from behind. Eruk turned his head. The mayor of the town had just finished digging himself out from a pile of rubble. "Just look what you've did to our town!!" he yelled. "What we did?!" Naga started advancing on him "Just who do you think you are talking to?". Her threatening advance came to a sudden stop when Eruk grabbed her shoulder "Just forget about it, and let's get out of here?" he suggested.

"Are you sure that that old guy wasn't serious?" Nimph whispered. Eruk shrugged "We've got threats like that before, haven't we? I'm sure everything will be alright as usual". Nimph nodded happily "whatever you say master" she giggled.

Meanwhile, back in the town, the mayor had just finished surveying the damage on the town.

"Looks like all of us are here" the mayor shouted. Luckily, everyone seemed more or less unhurt. There was some damages, but no fatalities.

"Curse those barrier people" The enraged mayor shouted "first they try to kill my beloved daughter, and next they fry our town!". As he babbled on, a murmur rose from the gathered townspeople. "What's the matter?" he asked, clearly annoyed that he was being interrupted. "Strangers" a man shouted.

Another group of townspeople parted, revealing two young women. "And what do we have here?" the mayor eyed them suspiciously "more barrier people?". One of the women swallowed hard "y…yeah?" she stuttered. "We are just traveling entertainers and mercenaries for hire" the other one added helpfully. "Mercenaries, huh?" the mayor smiled wickedly "Would you two consider taking a job?".

Authors notes:

Why can't Eruk and Naga stay out of trouble just for one day I wonder? Well, it's certainly to no credit of Naga…

Or could it be that trouble just find them wherever they go?

Again, thanks a lot for the reviews so far. I've had a few writers blocks since I started publishing this story, but knowing that people actually reads this makes such problems easier to overcome.

I'm glad that people see Naga in the same light as I do. Sure, her character is meant for comedy, but she has a more serious side as well. In fact, later on this story will be rather focused on Naga and her past. But I'm not gonna say anymore about that for now. Wouldn't want to ruin anything now would I?

Well, until the next update. Keep reading and reviewing!


	7. Meeting old friends

Disclaimer: Slayers don't belong to me. Not now, not ever… Sigh….

Meeting old friends

Who blew up the kitchen??

"Well, we might as well stay at this inn tonight" Zelgadis suggested. The Palace inn was known as one of the best in town, and as the name suggested it was the one closest to the royal palace. "Miss Sylphiel?" Anna looked up at the older woman "I'm starting to get really hungry".

The three of them entered the small restaurant and found a table in a secluded corner.

"Wow, this sure is a nice place, isn't it?" Anna beamed. She still had some difficulty believing that she was actually here in the royal city of Seyruun. "If you're that hungry, we'd better find you something to eat then" Sylphiel giggled. Just as she was about to call a waiter over to the table, an explosion rocked the normally peaceful inn.

"EEEK" Sylphiel and Anna screamed and hid beneath the table. "An attack?" Zelgadis wondered. He stood up and drew his sword "Whoever it is, the must be pretty stupid attacking so close to the palace.

"DAMN IT PART-TIMER!!!" an angry yell came from the kitchen.

"What's going on?" Sylphiel peeked out from beneath the table. A thick black smoke came from the kitchen. It was obvious that whatever it was that caused the explosion, it was in the kitchen. Sylphiel was just about to suggest that they should investigate what happened, when a man came through the smoke. "Sorry 'cough' about that" he bowed deeply "It's only a minor accident 'cough' and nothing to worry about".

Zelgadis sheathed his sword and sat down "a pretty unusual accident, if you ask me" he muttered.

"Are you two going to hide down there all night?" he asked the girls on the floor.

"Didn't I tell you to stay out of the kitchen part-timer?" the innkeeper yelled at someone "I honestly don't know why I hired you in the first place! Now get out there and do your job!". He pushed a girl out of the kitchen "The couple at table 9 looks like they are ready to order".

The girl dusted herself off "Ok boss" she sighed. She had only wanted to help in the first place.

Sylphiel climbed back to her seat. She couldn't hear the waitress' voice clearly, but somehow it was familiar to her. "Something bothering you big sis?" Anna asked carefully as she found her seat next to the shrinemaiden. "No, nothing to worry about" Sylphiel smiled back "I just thought I had heard that voice somewhere before". The strange look on Zelgadis' face clearly showed that he thought the same. However, seeing that both of them had stayed at that inn before, none of them kept dwelling on the thought.

"Damn old geezer…" the waitress muttered as she strode through the room "just because I make one little screw-up…". She set her course towards the dark table in the corner of the room. It was not a very popular table among the waitresses. The people who normally used that table, were usually up to no good. Usually it was used by lecherous old guys who spend most of their evening checking out the waitresses. The owner of the inn had refused to do anything about the problem since those men often were pretty good business.

As she approached the table, she slowed down. It didn't look like any of the regular customers at the table. From what she could make out in the dim lightning, it looked like a couple with a child. She smiled to herself. At least she wouldn't have to worry about fighting of perverts who tried to look under her skirt. She put on her brightest smile and strode forward.

"Hi there" She greeted the couple happily "are you ready to order yet?". Little by little her voice trailed of, there was something familiar about that couple, but she couldn't put a finger on what it was until the woman looked up from her menu.

"Miss Sylphiel!" she screamed and hugged the woman tightly.

Sylphiel dropped her menu in surprise. Zelgadis quickly cast a light spell. Sylphiel quickly recognized the waitress in the dim light. "Miss Taki?" she asked carefully "is that really you?". Taki let go of the shrinemaiden and nodded eagerly "of course I'm me!" she exclaimed.

"So that's why you are here?" Taki asked. She had gotten permission to take the rest of the evening off and had joined her friends at the table.

"Yeah, who should have guessed that we'd ever see this day coming? I must say that I had never thought those two would tie the knot" Zelgadis remarked dryly while sipping his tea.

Sylphiel politely ignored his remark "what have you been doing lately?" she asked. "Oh I've been working here" she smiled happily, "but most of the time I'm just hanging out with Amelia".

"Big sis?" Anna interrupted "I'm really tired" she yawned loudly. "I'll show you to your room then" Zelgadis stood up "I'm not in the mood to listen to girltalk all night anyway".

The two girls kept on talking.

"So, why are you traveling with Mr. Zelgadis?" Taki asked "and what's up with the little girl?". Sylphiel told Taki the entire story on how she met Anna and met up with Zelgadis. Taki sipped on some water while she listened to the shrine maidens story.

"Miss Sylphiel?" She asked after a little while "is HE here too?". The sad look on Sylphiels face told her more than words. "He's still not back yet?" Taki concluded "but I take that you've heard from him?". Again Sylphiel shook her head "no, I'm afraid not". Taki put her cup of water down "what?" she shouted "not a word from him in more than a year? I don't believe the nerve of that guy!".

Taki's face was beet red. It was difficult to determine whether it was anger or embarrassment. It was not a secret that she too, once had a crush on the same guy, but her feelings had since changed into admiration and friendship. "I just wish I knew what had happened to him" Sylphiel sighed.

Sylphiel slowly opened her eyes. For a brief second the room she was in felt strange, but only until she realized where she was.

"This is the part I dislike most about traveling" she mumbled to herself. She turned around wrapped the blanket tighter around her. A warm feeling started to spread in her body as she woke up little by little. _"It's today" _she thought _"we are going to see miss Lina and Gourry dear today"_.

She sat up and yawned loudly, something that she would never have done if there was others around, she reminded herself. It was impolite.

She climbed out of the bed and went over to the window. _"What a nice morning" _she thought at she opened the window. A shiver ran through her body as the crisp, fresh winter air started filling the room.

"This is wonderful!" she giggled. She could feel how her body started to wake up from a long nights rest. Her skin tingled as the cold air blew over it.

The sensation was broken when someone knocked the door. "Sylphiel! You up yet?" Taki called. Somewhere deep inside Sylphiel didn't want to answer but she did anyway. "Then come downstairs soon" Taki called back "we are waiting just for you!". Through the closed door, Sylphiel could hear her friends footsteps as she hurried down the stairs. _"I'd better get going myself"_ she thought _"As nice as this is, I could catch a cold"._

"Sis!" Anna yelled the moment Sylphiel entered the restaurant area. "Good morning everyone" Sylphiel nodded politely as she joined them at the table. "Geez miss Sylphiel, you haven't changed at all" Taki teased her "you still are such a sleepyhead". Sylphiel blushed a little, but said nothing in response to the other girls teasing. "you're no fun" Taki pouted and returned to her breakfast. They ate in silence, not because the atmosphere were gloomy, but because the sound of repairs from the kitchen drowned almost all other sound.

"So this is where you've been all morning part-timer?" the innkeeper walked up to their table.

Taki swallowed a piece of toast "Sorry boss" she shrieked "I'll get to work right away!".

She rose from the table and ran towards the kitchen. "Not so fast there" the innkeeper got a firm hold in her apron "what I wanted to say, is that you can have the next few days of". Taki spun around "Wow! You really mean it!? Thanks boss!" she cheered. "Yeah yeah, all good…" The innkeeper laughed nervously. Taki was a good waitress, and cute too, but her nature seemed prone to troubles and sometimes things just got out of hand, just like last night.

One of the cooks had fallen ill with a bad flu, and she had insisted to fill in for him. A kind gesture, but about the only thing Taki's skills didn't cover, was cooking. Luckily, she only managed to blow up the kitchen last night when she accidentally got the recipe for Seyruun stew mixed up with one of her notes on how to make gunpowder.

The innkeeper shivered at the thought of last time she had cooked. She almost ended up killing all of the guests by making something she called "The dradora surprise". Clearly the girl had traveled far for someone her age, but the barrier lands were simply not ready for this kind of food yet.

"Oh wow" Anna looked up at the grand palace "I couldn't see all of it last night". Taki padded her on the back "And there's even more to the palace than you can see from here".

Anna was speechless. She had not even imagined that such a large building could be made by human hands.

"So you are back now?" the palace guard greeted them as they walked up to the gate. "Yes" Sylphiel nodded "Can we please get inside now?".

The guard looked around "Sorry miss, but I'll have to confirm your identity first".

The shrinemaiden sighed, she had hoped that they could get inside with no problem. Security had been tightened ever since the bandit incident last year.

"Come on now Alance, they are with me" Taki stepped in front of the shrinemaiden "Can't you bend the rules for my sake?" she asked.. "Ah miss Taki, shouldn't you be working now or something?" The guard joked "Or have you've been fired again?". Taki's face turned red in anger "I've never been fired! It was all misunderstandings!" she shouted. "come on kid, I'm just pulling your leg here" the guard laughed "Go on inside".

"And who are you calling kid?" Taki shouted "you are only a year older than I am!". Alance couldn't help but laugh. Taki was cute, even when mad.

"Hey Gourry! That's MY chicken!!" A yell echoed through the many hallways. "I guess that proves that Lina and Gourry are here already" Zel groaned "I know those two make a great couple, but I still can't imagine them being married". Sylphiel nodded, it certainly was weird thinking about those two as husband and wife.

"MR. ZELGADIS!". The chimera turned around just in time to see Amelia running towards him. "I'm so glad that you eeeeek".

Zel's eyes widened as Amelia tripped over her own feet and crashed into him.

"Whoops, sorry about that" Amelia laughed sheepishly and looked around "huh? That's funny… I'm sure I saw Mr. Zelgadis here…".

As she sat up she heard a muffled voice from beneath her. "Could you please get off?" Zelgadis mumbled. Amelia looked down and found herself sitting on the chimeras back. "So that's where you were hiding Mr. Zelgadis, but how did you get down there?". She quickly moved, allowing him to stand up. "Don't ask me Amelia, please don't ask me" he muttered as he got up.

"Hello, Miss Amelia" Sylphiel greeted the princess warmly. "Oh Miss Sylphiel, I didn't see you at all!" Amelia spun around and faced the purplehaired girl "how nice to see you again!".

Suddenly Taki cleared her troath "I'll just excuse myself while you say your hellos" she said "I'll just head down to the stables, catch ya later, ok?". She waved as she left the group and headed for the royal stables. "Have fun!" Amelia yelled when something caught her eye. A small girl were hiding behind Sylphiel.

Amelia crouched down in front of her "Hello little girl" she smiled warmly "I don't think I've ever seen you before, what's your name?". Anna looked up at Sylphiel, her past life had taught her to weary of strangers, even nice strangers. "Oh, I see" Amelia smiled, "you are shy, aren't you?". Not knowing what to say, Anna simply nodded. "You don't have to be shy around me" Amelia giggled "My name is Amelia". Anna carefully watched to woman in front of her. She didn't look like a bad person, and she did seem to be a friend of Sylphiels. "My name is Anna" she finally said.

"Miss Amelia?" Sylphiel asked "I heard miss Lina and Gourry dear before, I would like to congratulate them. Do you know where I can find them?" she looked around. The Seyruun palace was huge and she didn't feel all that familiar with the place just yet. "Oh yes, of course miss Sylphiel" Amelia pointed down a corridor "I think they are down in the kitchen".

"I told you already" Lina shouted "keep your hands of my food!". Sylphiel carefully opened the kitchen door. Lina was her friend, but when the fiery redhead was eating it was never a good idea to disturb.

"Miss Lina?" Sylphiel moved a bit closer "Excuse me?".

The couple by the table were way to busy to even take notice of the shrinemaidens arrival. "Excuse me, Miss Lina?" Sylphiel very carefully pocked the sorceress' shoulder.

Reacting fast, Lina grabbed hold of the person behind her. "Now listen to me" she shouted "Didn't I tell you people…" Little by little her voice trailed off as she found herself looking into a familiar pair of green eyes. "Sylphiel?" she asked "what are you doing here?". The shrinemaiden opened her mouth to say something but because of Lina's hands around her troath, she found herself unable to speak. "Oh, sorry" Lina quickly let go of her. "It's just a reflex" she excused herself. Sylphiel nodded in understanding, this was Lina after all.

Authors notes:

So everybody, minus Filia and Xellos, is back together again. Now the fun can get started for real. How will the two lovebirds cope with their upcoming wedding? Will everyone survive having a nervous Lina around? And does Gourry even know what's going on at all?

Those, and many more questions will be answered in the future. But just maybe, things will not turn out quite as expected, who knows?

So, Taki has finally made an appearance. I hope you don't mind me including her in this story as well.


	8. Twin sisters

Disclaimer: I wonder how I can take over the slayers and keep it to myself…? Oh well, I guess that means I still don't own it.

Twin sisters

double trouble

"Miss Naga, couldn't you have found an easier way?" Eruk growled as he managed to free his left leg from a puddle of swamp water. "Stop complaining and keep walking" Naga ordered from behind him "This is the easiest way to the next town".

Eruk sighed, it was bad enough that he had to cross some godforsaken swamp without him having to carry his "employer" piggyback. It was times like this he wished that it was still in the middle of the winter. At least he could have hoped that everything had frozen over, but it had been getting warmer lately. No doubt that spring was on the way.

He stopped under a large tree where the ground was pretty firm "I'm not taking another step before I get a chance to rest" he announced "Maybe I'm strong, but even I have my limits on how much I can handle".

Before he knew what had happened, he found himself laying on the ground with a throbbing pain in the back of his head.

"How dare you sidekick!" Naga growled "How dare you call me fat!?". Eruk swallowed hard, that wasn't what he had meant at all. Maybe Naga was no Lina Inverse, but she was powerful alright and sometimes she had an even shorter temper than Lina. He crawled away from her "I didn't mean it like that" he begged "all I said was that I was getting tired".

Naga eyed him suspiciously "is that so?" she asked. He made one of his innocent faces and nodded eagerly.

"OHOHOHOHO" Naga threw back her head and laughed out loud, something that caused all animals within the radius of a mile to flee in terror. "Well, I've never believed people when they said beauty could be a burden, but I guess they weren't all wrong" she snickered.

"By the way" Eruk asked "where are we going?". He had managed to find a somewhat dry path that they could use. He still had to carry Naga once in awhile, but at least it made it easier when she could walk some of the time. "We are heading towards a town called Clairne" Naga informed him "it's a town known very well among… certain people". Eruk shrugged "Some sorceress stuff, I assume?". Naga said nothing. "In that case let's hurry" Eruk went on "I don't want to camp out here for the night".

A little time passed. It gradually became easier to move as they made it to the outskirts of the swamp.

A few birds took flight from the trees up ahead.

"Be careful miss Naga" Eruk warned "I think there's something up ahead". He had barely finished his sentence before he found himself dodging a flying object.

"What the…?" he asked as he stood back up.

"Master, look out!" Nimph shouted. Her warning came just a little to late. He felt something hit him in the back of the head.

Again he found himself on the ground, fighting not to pass out. Naga who had been watching all this time knelt down next to him "What's the matter sidekick?" she complained "this is no time to be sleeping on the job! Can't you see that we are being attacked?".

"Not only do I see it" he groaned as he got back up "I happen to feel it too". He carefully rubbed the back of his head with his left hand. _That's going to hurt for some time_ he thought. He knelt down in order to avoid anymore flying objects and reached for his newly acquired sword.

"Do you see anyone out there, miss Naga?" he whispered. The sorceress shook her head. Eruk closed his eyes and tried to focus on the sounds around him. Much to his surprise he found nothing out of the ordinary. He opened his eyes again just in time to see a dark shadow jumping from a tree right above them.

"Sidekick, look out!" Naga shouted and pushed him out of the way split seconds before the mysterious opponent made an attack. Before any of them could recover, the person was gone. In fact, the only proof that there ever was another person was a deep cut in the ground.

"What the…?" Eruk looked around in confusion. Fighting was one thing, but fighting an opponent he couldn't see was not easy.

"Why don't you stop hiding and come out where I can see you?" Naga shouted "Or are you afraid to face the great and powerful Naga the serpent face to face?".

A sudden movement caught Eruk's eye "I see him over there, miss Naga" he shouted and charged forward. While running, he drew the sword from the scabbard on his back.

"I got you now!" he shouted and prepared to strike at a bush.

"Master, behind you!" Nimph shouted. Reacting fast he spun around just in time to see a person jump from a tree behind him. He cast a levitation spell and jumped away just in time to avoid the blow.

"What are you doing sidekick?" Naga shouted. Eruk landed next to her

"it's not my fault miss Naga" he defended himself "I can't fight someone I can't see!". Naga shook her head "looks like I'll have to take care of this little problem myself then".

She raised her hands "Freeze Arrow!" she shouted as a blue bolt of energy left her hands. The magic flew high in the air where it divided into many. Eruk threw himself to the ground. The main reason why he had taken it upon himself to fight most of Naga's battles was not that she was a bad sorceress, far from it. The reason was, that it didn't matter the least to her if he got hit by her magic as well. It was just another aspect of being the sidekick.

"Hey, no fair" a girl shouted as she jumped out from a bush just before it froze over "He never said that you could use magic!". Eruk shook his head in disbelief, this was the unknown attacker?

"OHOHOHOHOHO" Naga advanced on the girl with a smug look on her face "So you are the one brave enough to face me, the great Naga?". The girl stood up and readied her staff.

__

Don't girls ever get cold? Eruk wondered to himself as he studied the girl. The red Chinese dress she wore didn't seem like it was the perfect winters clothing. Her long purple hair flowed gently in the wind. Somehow it reminded him of Sylphiel, even though this girl seemed a few years younger and her hair had a lighter shade of purple than the shrinemaidens. "Nene, you moron! What do you think you are doing?" Another girl joined the first one.

"Umm Master? Am I seeing double here?" Nimph asked carefully "I know miss Naga said that could happen if you drank too much, but I have only been drinking water, honestly!". Eruk shook his head "It's either that, or the fact that they might be twins".

The first girl looked up at the newcomer with wide eyes "I'm sorry Mimi" she sniffed "but that woman is just so scary" she pointed a shaky finger at Naga. "What was that?" the sorceress frowned. Mimi helped her sister back up "I know what you mean" she shuddered "that laugh would scare everyone. But still, we have to capture those two, right?". Nene nodded slowly. The only reason they had gotten out of the last village was that they had to promise the mayor that they would bring the ones responsible for the massive destruction back to face justice.

"I thought you said we shouldn't have to worry about the crazy old man?" Nimph whispered. Eruk shrugged "how would I know that he would go to extremes and hire mercenaries to track us down?" he whispered back.

"Ok, you two" Mimi shouted "you'd better just give up right now, or you'll have to face us in battle!". Eruk flinched as she pulled her weapon out. It was clearly that one that had hit him in the head. "That's right!" Nene piped in "You'd better surrender now, or face the wrath of Mimi and Nene, martial artists and singing sensations extraordinaire!"

"OHOHOHOH!" Naga threw her head back and laughed "foolish girls, do you really think that you stand a chance against me, the great Naga! The greatest rival of Lina Inverse, feared among dragons…".

Eruk rolled his eyes as his companion went on with her ravings.

"… the most beautiful sorceress in the known and unknown world…".

He sat down on a fallen tree and waited for her to finish, even though it didn't seem like it was going to happen anytime soon.

He shook his head slowly and went over next to her "miss Naga, isn't it about time that we actually do something instead of talking?" he asked politely.

"…and the…huh?" Naga stopped her ramblings and looked at him. He had his armed crossed and was tapping his foot, a certain sign that he was starting to loose his patience.

"Oh well" Naga shrugged "without further ado…". She raised her hands and pointed at her attackers, but nothing happened. "What's wrong miss Naga?" Eruk asked, fearful that she had changed her mind and go on with her ramblings. "This… this is an outrage!!!" Naga growled "how dare they!!!". Eruk, who had been keeping his eyes on Naga, shifted his attention to the twins. "What the…?" he whispered.

Both of the twins had fallen asleep from boredom, and were now snoring soundly. "I guess we won, didn't we?" Eruk laughed nervously and advanced on their sleeping opponents.

__

"Now if I can get those two tied up before they wake up…" He thought to himself, pleased that a battle could be avoided.

Suddenly he felt the ground shaking below him. He took one look at his companion and swallowed hard _"She couldn't be thinking of…"_. A split second later he got his answer as the words "mega brand" followed by a huge blast echoed through the otherwise peaceful swamp.

"Master?" Nimph poked his left leg "why are you hanging around up here?" she asked curiously.

Slowly Eruk opened his eyes and found himself staring at the ground several feet below him. "I didn't know that you had become that good at flying! Nimph giggled as she flew up in front of his face.

"Where am I?" he asked, still a bit disoriented "what happened?". Nimph titled her head to the left and brought a hand up to her chin "well, when miss Naga blew up those strange girls, you somehow started flying after them and landed here". Eruk shook his head to clear his mind. He couldn't' have flown here on his own, he simply wasn't good enough at levitating for that to happen. And judging from the way that he felt right now, it was more likely that he was blown away along with the two girls.

"By the way master" Nimph asked "why is it that you landed upside down in this tree?". Eruk blinked a few times before he realized that she was right. He was in fact hanging face down in a tree with only a few wines around his feet to keep him from falling down.

"Well, don't you worry about anything master" Nimph informed him and flew up to his feet "I'll get you down in a jiffy". He paled when he felt the dagger he always kept hidden in his right boot be removed. "What are you doing?" he asked nervously. "Why, I'm getting you down master" Nimph giggled as she cut another wine "only one more to go…". Eruk paled "Only one more?" he whispered "oh no, she's not gonna…".

"Well, that was certainly easy". Naga gave a satisfied nod. There was no trace of Mimi and Nene to be found anywhere, but it wasn't any of hers concern anyway. "Now where did that sidekick of mine go?" she wondered out loud when she heard a loud THUMP a short distance away.

She curiously followed the sound. As she passed through a shrubbery, she found Eruk lying unconscious at the base of a large tree. "Come on master! Get up" Nimph ordered and stomped her foot angrily on his chest.

"What's going on here? Naga asked curiously. "oh, it's you miss Naga" Nimph turned her head in the sorceress direction "The master fell down from up there and landed on his head. She pointed up in the tree and showed Naga the wines she had cut to help him down.

__

"Where am I?" Eruk looked all around him. The world was, for some reason, all blurry. "Almost like a hot summers day" he thought to himself. He took a deep breath and realized that even though it seemed to be very hot, the air that he was breathing was cold and refreshing.

"So how do you like it?" A voice came from behind him. He spun around, his right hand moving towards Naga's sword that usually was strapped to his back, only to find it missing.

"Oh, no need to worry about your weapon, handsome" the owner of the mysterious voice laughed "I assure you, there is nothing to fear here". A beautiful woman stepped out of the blur. Her long green hair reached almost all the way down to the ground. She was wearing a long blue dress that flowed gently in the wind. For some reason he felt like he was drowning in her deep blue eyes. An eerie silence fell over the entire area.

"Where are we?" It was Eruk that broke the silence first.

"Oh, why worry?" the woman giggled and sat down in the grass. "Why don't you join me?" she suggested. Hesitantly he sat down next to her.

"I have been waiting to meet you for some time now" the woman looked him over with a sly smile on her face. Eruk was silent. He wanted to speak up, but for some reason, he simply couldn't say a word. "The strong silent type, huh?" she carefully brushed the hair away from his eyes "or is it because you like me?". He instinctively flinched from her touch. "I see…" she lowered her head "you are mistrusting". She withdrew her hand "there, feeling more comfortable now?" she asked. Still unable to speak, Eruk simply nodded in response.

"You sure are a strange one" she giggled "avoiding contact with others, but yearning for it at the same time, not exactly the way I imagined the great Gaav to act". The surprised look on Eruk's face told the woman everything she needed to know.

"Surprised?" she asked playfully "I know everything about you. Your past, your future, everything". Her words were starting to affect him. He closed his eyes and focused all of his strength. Little by little he started regaining the use of his body. "What do you want with me?" he managed to ask. The woman stood up "I have only one desire", her voice was soft but still determined "I wish to atone a sin committed long ago".

As she spoke, the earth suddenly started shaking. "It would seem that our time has come to an end" she said "but I will see you again". Eruk watched as the world started spinning and fade in front of his eyes. "Oh yeah" the woman's voice seemed to come from all around him "My name is Millennia…"

"Hey look, he's coming around now!" Nimph shouted. He slowly opened his eyes. "Millennia?" he shouted out the name as he sat up in the bed with a jerk, causing Nimph to fall from her place on his chest.

"Millennia?" Naga asked, a confused look on her face "who's that?". Eruk look around and noticed that he was no longer in the swamp. In fact, he was no longer outside. The room he was in looked like a regular village inn. He let himself slump backwards in the bed. His mind drifted back to the dream. _"That woman, who was she? I wonder what she meant with I know everything about you? Will I ever find out if any of it was even real?"_.

He was torn out of his thought when Naga's fist collided with his head. "Ouch!!" He rubbed his sore head "what did you do that for miss Naga?". The tall sorceress gave him a scowl "You were ignoring me sidekick!" she frowned " and after I, the great Naga, carried you all the way here".

He closed his eyes "it's not that I was ignoring you" he explained "I'm just a bit out of it right now". Naga narrowed her eyes "and?". Eruk opened his eyes and looked at her "never mind miss Naga, just forget I brought it up". Naga gave him a weird look but decided to do as he said. Whatever dreams he might have had, wasn't any concern of hers anyway.

"Well, you just rest up for now", Naga gave him a sincere smile and started to head for the door "you coming fairy?".

Nimph jumped up and nodded eagerly "ok!". She opened the door and vanished from sight. "I'll be going too master!"

Nimph informed him and started following Naga.

"Not so fast" Eruk stopped her before she made it out of the room "where are the two of you going?". The fairy spun around in midair "Why, we are going to the hot-springs of course" she giggled "that's the whole reason we are here". With that she flew out of the door to follow Naga.

"Great" Eruk groaned "all this way, and all that trouble for some hot-springs…"

Authors notes:

Seems like I have an endless supply of minor characters to throw into this story, doesn't it? I don't think I have ever seen Mimi and Nene in a fanfiction before, so I thought it would only be fitting to give them a chance to star as well. I know that I've taken some artistic liberties with their personalities, but I hope that you don't mind that.

And Now Eruk has had one of those strange dreams as well? I sense trouble brewing in the future…

Just who is this Millennia? And what does she want with Sylphiel and Eruk?

I'll try to get the next update ready as soon as possible. Keep reading, and keep those reviews coming.


	9. Wedding rings and kidnappers

Disclaimer: Still haven't earned enough money to buy the right for the slayers, so I still don't own them.

Wedding rings and kidnappers

Last minute shopping?

"So you're telling me that he just ditched you!!?" Lina slammed her mug down on the table. "Miss Lina, please calm down and let miss Sylphiel finish her story" Amelia urged her redhaired friend. The three girls had gathered for a quiet evening before the wedding preparations started for real. "Calm down?" CALM DOWN?!" Lina cried "that guy just pisses me of!! No one treats a girl like that, and least at all a friend of mine!".

Amelia and Sylphiel shot each other a nervous glance. Lina was a good friend, but when she was in that mood, no one could feel safe. "Miss Lina?" Sylphiel tried to get the sorceress attention without making her more upset than she already was. "I just said I haven't heard from him. He probably has his reasons" Sylphiels reasoning seemed to calm her down somewhat, but she was still upset.

"Do you really think that he has reasons for not contacting you?" Amelia whispered. Sylphiel nodded "He is a reincarnation of the demon dragon king after all" a shiver ran through her body when she though of that aspect of the man she knew as Eruk. "I guess you are right miss Sylphiel" Amelia sighed "but I still wonder how he's doing..."

A eerie silence fell over the room. "What's the matter with you two all of a sudden?" Lina asked casually "we're here to celebrate aren't we?". Sylphiel took a deep breath "You are right miss Lina" she agreed "so tell me, how did Gourry dear ask you to marry him?". Deep inside she was feeling just a little bit jealous of the sorceress and swordsman, but she was determined not to let it show on her face.

Lina leaned back in her chair "it was actually nothing special. That jellyfishbrain never had any sense of timing". For some reason she had trouble sounding as mad as she had hoped for.

"Miss Lina has gotten soft on Mr. Gourry lately" Amelia whispered as she leaned closer to Sylphiel. "I heard that Amelia!" Lina growled, causing the Seyruun princess to shiver in fear.

"Anyway..." Lina continued "We had just beaten the crap out of a bandit gang, and he just blurts out Hey Lina, ever wanted to get married?. Just like that!". Lina threw her hands in the air "and then things just happened", she finished her story by taking a big swing of her drink.

"That was it?" Sylphiel asked. She had expected something a bit more romantic, like a candlelight dinner or something. Suddenly the image of Gourry and Lina having said dinner started playing in her mind. _"Hey Lina, could you please pass me the bread?" chibi Gourry asked politely. "No way!" chibi Lina growled back "these are all mine". She gave Gourry's plate a hungry look "in fact so is this". She threw herself at Gourry's plate and scooped up a piece of meat. "Hi honey" she giggled, and gave the meat a loving look before stuffing it into her mouth. "oh yeah?" chibi Gourry shouted as he copied the stunt. From there the fight escalated. _Sylphiel closed her eyes and shook her head as the two chibis started duking it out.

"Is something wrong miss Sylphiel?" Amelia asked. Sylphiel had been staring out of the window for a while, and it was starting to bother the Seyruun princess.. "Oh no, it is nothing" Sylphiel assured her "I was just lost in my thoughts for a moment".

She covered her mouth to hide a yawn. It was getting late, and she was starting to feel a bit tired. In the same moment Lina yawned loudly "I think we should call it a night". The two others agreed and started heading for their rooms.

"Not so fast" Lina held Sylphiel back. "What's wrong, miss Lina?" the shrinemaiden asked. "I just wanted to tell you to get a lot of rest tonight, 'cause tomorrow you'll start working". Sylphiel swallowed hard "what do you mean, miss Lina?" she asked nervously. "Why such a scared face?" Lina laughed heartily "I thought I told you already. I need you to keep an eye on Gourry for me, otherwise I just know that he'll end up forgetting something". Sylphiel nodded "of course miss Lina, you can count on me". Lina let go of the shrinemaiden "I know I can Sylphiel" she said sincerely.

"So Sylphiel" Gourry pulled the cloak tighter around him "Can you tell me why we are out here?". Sylphiel had, with Lina's permission, insisted that the swordsman had followed her on into town to do some shopping. "I just wanted to pick some things up for the wedding Gourry dear" Sylphiel giggled "Don't you have any last minute shopping to do?". Sylphiel had spent all night trying to figure out how to pry information from the swordsman.

"I don't really know" Gourry smiled "should I have some shopping to do?". Sylphiel sighed, this was going to be a lot harder than she had expected.

"So let me get this straight" Sylphiel stared the clueless swordsman straight in the eyes "you haven't done ANYTHING to prepare for the wedding?". Gourry shrugged "what is there to do? Isn't a wedding just walking up to some priest and have him say something?".

The two of them had stopped by a local restaurant to get some breakfast Or to be more precise, Gourry was eating while Sylphiel had a cup of tea. Sylphiel was, to put it mildly, surprised. How he had avoided Linas fury so far was beyond her.

"Gourry dear? Haven't you bought some clothes or something?" Sylphiel asked. Gourry shook his head. "Please tell me that you have at least bought miss Lina a ring" She was really starting to worry about his health now. "But she's got plenty of rings" Gourry stuffed another piece of toast into his mouth "Just the other day she got her hands on a few more when she fried some bandits".

"Gourry dear!" Sylphiel stood up and placed her hands on her hips "this is not just about a ring!". Gourry blinked a few times "but you just said...". Sylphiel took a deep breath "this isn't just about a ring! It's about a wedding ring!" she shouted. Everybody in the small restaurant looked at her in stunned silence. Her face turned beet red as she sat back down and lowered her voice "we have to go out and find you and miss Lina a ring right now".

"I can't believe this" Sylphiel sighed "there isn't a single merchant in town who has a wedding ring". The two of them had been browsing around town for several hours now, but were still unable to find a suitable ring. "Why don't we try over there then?" Gourry asked and pointed at a small booth all alone in the market square. _"that's funny"_ Sylphiel thought _"I would have thought it was too cold to operate a booth in this weather"_.

"Ahh welcome youngsters "The owner greeted them warmly. He was a strange little man, all covered in strange robes. His strange appearance actually had Sylphiel a little worried for some reason, but she couldn't point out what it was. Finally she settled on the fact that his clothes even covered his face.

"Umm we are looking for a wedding ring?" she started. "Ahh how romantic" the man smirked "You two make a excellent couple, I must say". Sylphiel face instantly turned red "Oh n...no" she stuttered "It's not the two of us getting married".

The man took a long look at Gourry "Now I see!" he exclaimed "you are Gourry Gabriev, aren't you?". He nodded to himself "yes, you are indeed the legendary swordsman. These eyes of mine must be getting old...". He vanished behind a curtain for a few minutes.

"I knew they were here somewhere" he laughed to himself and held out his hand. "they... they are beautiful..." Sylphiel whispered. In the mans hand was two golden rings. One of them had a deep blue stone embedded, and the other a fiery red stone.

"They are perfect for the two of you" Sylphiel was beaming with happiness, finally they had found what they were looking for. "How much is it?" she asked carefully. "Well..." the man looked Gourry over "Seeing that his future wife have saved or fair town on more than one occasion, I believe it would only be fair if I gave them to you for free".

"Wow, it was pretty lucky we ran into Xellos like that, huh?" Gourry laughed. Sylphiel shook her head in resignation, no matter how much she cared for the blonde swordsman, he sometimes amazed her with his ability to forget or mix up things. "Gourry dear?" Sylphiel used her sweetest voice in order to get him to understand "that wasn't Xellos, just a kind old man who wanted to help out".

She turned around "see for yourself...huh?". The booth they had left weren't there any longer. "That's strange" She wondered "I could have sworn...". She opened her hand and looked at the two rings. If it weren't for them, she would have doubted that they had ever dealt with the man. "Who are you looking for?" Gourry asked. Sylphiel shrugged "I was just wondering were that old man went", she took another look just to make sure. The market square was as empty as one could expect in the middle of the winter.

"Sis! You're back!" Anna greeted the shrinemaiden warmly as she and Gourry returned to the palace. "Hello Anna" Sylphiel pick the girl up and hugged her "did you have fun with miss Taki today?". The girl nodded eagerly "I did!! We spent all day out in the stables playing with the horsies!! I want a horsie too someday!". Sylphiel put her back down on the ground "I'm glad to see that the two of you get along so well" she said. She kind of expected that Taki would be the perfect babysitter, and she had just been proved right.

"It sounds like the two of you have had a wonderful time together" Sylphiel giggled. She had gone with Anna up to the room the two of them shared. Anna jumped up in the bed "This really is wonderful" she sighed. Sylphiel smiled at her happiness. For someone who had spent a lot of time sleeping in the streets, a bed in a royal palace must seem like heaven. Sylphiel went over and sat down next to her "I'm glad you like it Anna" she stroked the young girls hair "everyone should have a bed like this" she added.

"Say sis?" Anna asked "did you and that guy find what you were looking for?". Sylphiel smiled an reached into a pocket "We did. Take a look at these". She held out the rings for Anna to see. "So beautiful..." Anna sighed and took the ring with the red gem. She held it up towards a candle. A soft red light fell over her face as the flame reflected itself in the gem.

"I didn't even know that it could do that" Sylphiel moved closer to Anna. The red light that danced over their faces almost seemed alive. Anna stared deeply into the gem. To her it almost seemed like there was something alive inside it. She yawned deeply and let her imagination flow freely. If she concentrated hard enough she could almost make out some of the images inside the gem.

Suddenly her eyes snapped open as a demonic face stared back at her from within the gem. She let out a scream and tossed the ring away. "M...Miss Sylphiel, I... I saw something..." she stuttered. "Anna, it was just your imagination" Sylphiel scolded her. "But... but..." Anna started crying.

"It's ok" Sylphiels expression softened "just try to be more careful". She looked around in the room to locate the ring. "Now where did it go?" she asked herself. "I'm sorry sis" Anna sniffed "but I was just scared, I didn't mean to throw it away...". The shrinemaiden stood up "don't worry about it, I'm sure it's around here somewhere" she held out the other ring "why don't you look after this one for me?". Anna nodded slowly and accepted the ring while Sylphiel got down on her hands and knees.

"I'm sure it went that way" she thought to herself as she searched the floor. Anna simply sat on the bed and looked at her. Suddenly she tensed. Was it just her imagination, or was something moving in the dark corner in the back of the room?. "Ahh, there it is!" Sylphiel crawled over to the dresser. She got down on her stomach and tried to reach the ring. Somehow it had gotten underneath the massive dresser, but she was sure that she could reach it if only she stretched herself enough.

Suddenly she heard Anna screaming. Sensing that something was wrong, she started to stand up. Before she could do anything, she felt a sharp pain in the back of the head. Everything became black as she slumped to the floor and slipped into unconsciousness.

Authors notes:

Sorry it's been so long since my last update, I've just been busy with other projects lately.

I wonder why I'm not getting anymore reviews on this one, I know it's starting out a bit slow but it'll get better, I promise. But on the same note, Otaku-girl, thanks a lot for your reviews.

Looks like I have another big plot twist coming up. Who has knocked Sylphiel out? And what has happened to Anna? I'll reveal this much: It will lead to another journey for Lina and the others.


	10. Battle at the hotspring

Disclaimer: Slayers = not mine

Battle at the hot-spring

Raging demon dragon king

Eruks eyes snapped open. He didn't know why, but he just had a strange feeling that something was wrong. He shook his head and sat up. "Is something wrong master?" Nimph slowly opened her eyes and yawned loudly. His sudden movement had woken her up quite forcefully seeing that she had made it a habit to sleep curled up on his chest. "It's nothing" he sighed as he let himself relax and carefully leaned back in his bed "I just got a funny feeling that something is up". He closed his eyes and tried to go back to sleep. His thoughts kept bugging him however, and he found himself unable to rest. _Don't think so much, just rest_ he mentally begged his mind. Little by little he started relaxing, calmed by the sound of Nimph snoring soundly on his chest.

"Hey you two, wake up" Naga banged on the door.

"Coming miss Naga" Nimph called back and grabbed her towel. Despite her hurry, she stopped in the front of the closed door "Umm master, could you open the door for me?". Eruk groaned and got out of bed. It had been the same every morning the last three days.

He opened the door and allowed the fairy to exit. "Why don't you ever join us in the hot-springs?" she asked as she passed him. He shook his head "no, it's ok" he gave her a warm smile "besides, I wouldn't be able to join you even if I wanted. The baths here have separate areas for men and women anyway".

Nimph shrugged "what is it with you humans anyway? Does it matter if you are male or female anyway?". Eruk felt blood rise to his face "look, I'll tell you about it when you get older ok? He practically shoved the tiny creature out of the door and slammed it shut. Sometimes her naivity concerning human relations really left him speechless.

He sat down on the bed. _It's not that I want go _he thought as he pulled his shirt off. He took a look in the mirror. His entire torso was covered by scars. "Hideous" he thought as he let his finger trail over the one that covered his stomach.

His face grimaced as he remembered how he got it. The memory of the enraged Damien Shadowheart were still a nightmare to him. _It could have been me..._ he shuddered at the thought of what he could have become. He sat down on the bed. If it hadn't been for Sylphiels kindness, who knows how he had ended up?.

"Snap out of it!" he ordered himself and stood up. Dwelling on the past had never helped much. He stood up and got dressed.

"So, back again young man?" the bartender greeted him warmly. Eruk nodded and sat down on a chair. He hated spending his time in a small bar like this, but with Naga and Nimph spending the better part of the day swimming in the hot-spring, he had nothing better to do.

"Could you give me the usual?" he asked. The bartender nodded and poured him a glass of water "on the rocks?" he asked jokingly. "Do whatever you want" Eruk shrugged. This was such a waste of time, but Naga had insisted that they stayed for at least a few days and he was not about to argue with her about something like that.

"_I've got to do something" _he thought _"otherwise I'm going insane". _He drank the last of his water and left the bar. _"Now, what to do?" _he thought while he looked around. Except for the large indoor hot-spring, the town really didn't have much to offer.

"Sir! SIR!!!" A man came running up to him. Eruk spun around and faced the man "what is it?" he asked dryly. "I'm sorry to disturb you sir" the man huffed "but you wouldn't be a mercenary, now would you?".

Eruk looked the man over. His clothes hinted that he was a part of some sort of militia. "I might be" Eruk narrowed his eyes "what do you need me for?". He tried his best not to seem to eager by the prospects of a job, but inside he was smiling. This was the perfect chance to earn some money without Naga claiming all of it for herself. "My name is Birann" the soldier introduced himself "I really don't have time to explain right now, but if you want a job, go talk to the commander". Birann bowed deeply and ran off again. _"Weird fellow"_ Eruk shrugged _"but I'd better do as he suggested. Anything is better than hanging out here doing nothing anyway"._

He adjusted his sword on his back and started to make his way to the military compound. As he started to get closer to his destination he could hear people shouting, and the sound of running. "You there!" a man ran up to him "are you a mercenary?". Eruk nodded. "Thank goodness" the man sighed "I take it that you spoke with Birann then?" Eruk nodded again "he told me the commander would tell me what was going on here".

The soldier guided Eruk to the city gate and pointed outside "this is the problem". Eruk looked out of the gate. It looked like several tents had been set up during the night. "Lizardmen..." Eruk growled. He had had several encounters with those creatures in the course of his travels. They could almost be regarded the same way as bandit gangs inside the barrier lands.

"I don't see how this could be trouble for a well trained militia" Eruk remarked. The commander of the city guard came up to them "usually it isn't" he shook his head "but with that THING they've brought along, we can't do a single thing about them". The smile on Eruk face started to fade as a towering tent came into view in the middle of the camp. "Chimera..." Eruk whispered. Suddenly this whole job was starting to look a lot better from his point of view. Not only would he get to do something other than hanging around in a bar drinking water all day, here was one of the creatures that he had vowed to destroy. He mentally prepared himself for a difficult fight.

"I'll take the job" he informed the commander and started walking towards the camp. He could already feel his anger towards the chimera creatures rising. "Hey, where are you going?" the commander shouted behind him "we just wanted you to assist the guards in case they attack...".

Eruk drew his sword, and slipped into a defensive position as the first couple of lizardmen charged towards him. In a flash he dispatched the first one and changed into a more offensive position. His remaining opponent slowly started to back away. "That's right" he smirked "never underestimate your opponent".

"In that case, you should follow your own advice" a female voice shouted. The blood started to drain from his face as he recognized the voice. "Not now..." he groaned.

"All alone are you?" Mimi laughed "I had thought you smarter than this". Eruk turned his head slightly to look at the two newcomers "can't you two just give it up?" he growled "I don't need you to interfere with my mission". A sudden movement made him turn his attention back to the remaining lizardman. The creature was running back towards the camp. "Great" Eruk mumbled "he got away".

He turned to the two girls again "do you have any idea what you've done?" he shouted.

"We saved that creature?" Nene offered helpfully. "Be silent" Mimi ordered her "it doesn't concern us anyway". Eruk advanced on them "oh but I'm afraid it does" he smirked "It got away to warn the entire camp about us". The twins looked nervously at each other and then back to the man advancing on them. "But we can always just go back to the town, right?" Nene suggested "it will be safe there". Eruk shook his head "look at that" he pointed in the direction of the town. Several of the lizardmen hard already begun encircling them.

"Do we really have to fight?" Nene whispered to her sister. The other girl simply readied her fan in response. "I take it that our differences have been put aside for the moment?" Eruk turned away from the twins "I don't know about you two, but I think fighting among ourselves would be a bad idea right now". Very slowly he continued moving backwards in their direction. "You have a point" Mimi agreed "but once this is over, we WILL take you and that crazy woman back with us". Nene nodded in agreement.

Eruk dodged a blow with ease, and sent another opponent flying with a well aimed punch. He took the time to cast a glance at his makeshift teammates. The twins were actually holding their own pretty well. No big surprise there though, lizardmen weren't exactly known for their fighting skills. He took out another opponent with a fast slash of his sword when he heard a scream. He spun around. A huge chimera had gotten its hands on one of the girls. "MIMI" Nene cried and charged forward with her staff to help her sister. _"She'll never make it"_ Eruk thought. He spun around and made a vicious slash at all the nearby lizardmen. Three of them dropped death and the others backed off.

The chimera raised Mimi high in the air and tossed her towards the charging girl. Nene fell to the ground and dropped her weapon as her sister collided with her. The chimera howled in triumph and started advancing on them.

"Not so fast there!" Eruk shouted. He stared the creature straight in the eyes. "So you recognize me?" he smirked as the chimera turned away from the twins and started walking towards him. Eruk slipped into a fighting stance "ready to be destroyed?" he threatened.

"you'd better run now" Mimi called out to him "That creature is not normal!". Eruk narrowed his eyes "I'm not going to back out of this fight". Nene shook her head "We'd better go sis, he's crazy to go up against that thing". Mimi didn't move.

Eruk ran forward and made a strike at the creature but missed. In return he took a blow to the head and stumbled backwards. The chimera was fast to follow up on it's attack. Eruk fell to the ground, blood started flowing into his eyes from a wound on his head. He slumped to the ground and passed out.

The chimera raised its hand to deliver the final blow when something hit it in the back of the head.

"Sis!" Nene shouted "what are you doing!". Mimi held up her hand as her fan returned to her. "maybe that wasn't such a good idea after all" she mumbled to herself.

With an angry grunt the chimera turned it's attention towards the girls. "I think we should get out of here" Nene had already started to back away. "Well, what are you waiting for?!" Mimi shouted as she ran past her sister "we have to get back to town".

"What do you think is going on out there, sir?" Birann asked the commander. The older soldier shook his head "I'm not sure, but I'm sure those two can tell us" he pointed at the two girls that ran for the city gate with all their might. "Is... it... still... after... us?" Nene huffed. Mimi shot a look over her shoulder "Run faster!" she cried.

"Excuse me?" Birann blocked the gate "I was wondering if I could...". He was pushed forcefully out of the way by Mimi "Out of my way!!" she shouted. "You'll have to excuse my sister" Nene called back "but we really are in a hurry here". Birann climbed back on his feet "what was that about" he asked confused.

His answer came just seconds later when the massive chimera shoved him away. "What the hell is that!?" The commander shouted as the creature made it's way through the town.

"Umm sis? I hope that you have a really good plan now" Nene whimpered as she pressed herself up against a wall. Mimi shook her head "We just have to fight, I guess...". Nene swallowed hard and readied her staff. The chimera roared in triumph as it started advancing on the twins.

They moved closer together. "I knew we should have stuck to singing..." Nene whispered "I'm just not cut out to be in this kind of business...". Mimi sent her an annoyed look "Are you saying that this is my fault?". Before Nene had a chance to answer, the chimera rushed forward ready to kill them both.

"It was nice knowing you sis" Nene whispered and closed her eyes, waiting for the inevitable. She screamed loudly when she felt a gush of wind on her face.

"Would you look at that?" Mimi whispered. Nene slowly opened her eyes. The chimera was struggling to get back up after seemingly having been thrown several feet away. "What happened?" she asked. Mimi pointed at a house "I think... he did it..." she gulped.

Eruk stood on the roof. A aura of pure energy radiated from him as he looked down on the fallen chimera. Slowly it got back up and stared at the attacker, for the first time in it's life it felt a strange sensation of fear.

A cruel smile formed on Eruk face as he slowly levitated down to the ground. "Is he insane!?" Mimi shouted "He hasn't even drawn his weapon yet!". The chimera had recovered from his first attack and charged forward. Eruk slowly raised his right hand and pointed at the charging creatures. A wave of pure energy shoot from his hand and struck the creature directly in the chest. It flew backwards and crashed through a wooden wall. Mimi and Nene quickly ran out of the way as it crashed down in the hot-spring.

"What is going on out there?" Naga shouted "who dares to disturb the great Naga!?". She took a step back as the chimera rose from the water. "It's one of... them" Nimph pointed at the creature and quickly hid herself behind the sorceress. "I sure wish the master was here..." she whimpered, as the creature turned to look at them.

"Don't you dare to look away from me" Eruk growled as he sent the chimera flying with another energy beam. "Sidekick?" Naga asked and took another step away "Is there anything wrong?". He slowly drew his sword and walked out in the spring. "You'd better get away miss Naga" Nimph warned the sorceress "He has completely lost it". Naga nodded slowly and climbed out of the spring.

Eruk let out a cry of rage and charged the creature. His vicious attack almost slashed the chimera in half. It fell backwards. With inhuman strength he leaped out of the water and raised the sword high above his head. "What's he doing?" Nene asked. She and her sister were peeking in through the hole in the wall that the chimera had made. "I don't know" Mimi whispered back "but it looks serious...". The sword was starting to glow as he channeled all of his magical power into the blade. Before the creature could even react it was engulfed by a red light.

"Oh my god!" Mimi cried "that creature...! He just...".

"What are the two of you doing here?" the twins spun around and found themselves face to face with Naga. "We just... I don't... sorry..." Nene whimpered. "To hell with sorry!" Naga shouted and grabbed hold of both of them "we need to get out of here, and that's fast!". She shot a nervous glance back at the hot-spring, or rather at the steam that was left after Eruk had fired of his spell.

"What's going on here" Mimi cried as the sorceress dragged her around a corner "isn't he supposed to be working for you?". Naga leaned up against the wall and took a deep breath "It's a long story..."

"Master?" Nimph carefully flew through the steamy clouds of the former hot-spring. "oh there you are" she exclaimed and landed next to the limp form on the ground. "Are you ok?" she asked as she reached out to touch his forehead. Pure dark energy started flowing from him and into her body. "What... What is going on?" she whimpered as the dark energies grew stronger. She fell to her knees and grit her teeth in pain. It was the first time the power had been so concentrated. "I... won't... fail" she whispered as she fell to her knees.

"Oh dear, you poor creature...".

Nimph slowly turned her head in the direction of the voice. A woman slowly walked through the mists. The fairy narrow her eyes in an attempt to look at the woman's face "Miss Naga? Is that you?" she called. "Oh, I didn't see you at all little one" the woman giggled "my, do you ever look tired...". She reached down and touched the fairy. "What are you... talking about?" Nimph mumbled as she fought to stay awake. "Be at ease now, little one" the woman gently bent down next to Eruk as Nimph drifted of to sleep.

"Now, it's just you and me" she whispered.

"Who are you...?" Eruk groaned in pain.

"Shhh don't talk" she hushed him "you should go to sleep as well". In his weakened state Eruk found himself unable to defend against her spell. As he drifted of to sleep, he caught a glimpse of green hair. "I hadn't intended for you to see me just yet" Millenia mumbled "but I have my ways to change that". Again she touched his head "what were you thinking anyway?" she shook her head "now is not the time to unleash your power". She stood up and stared down at his sleeping form "we will meet again, demon dragon king". Without another sound, she turned around and vanished through the mists.

Authors notes:

Seems like the power of Gaav is growing ever stronger inside Eruks body. Now, I wonder what would happen if he for some reason lost all of his control over this power? Bad things would surely happen.

And how does that woman Millenia fit into everything? Am I just playing around with peoples heads here, or is there a reason for everything?

There is an answer to all this, but it is somewhere in the future chapters.


	11. A decision is made

Disclaimer: Slayers is not mine. Wish it was....

A decision is made

Sylphiel takes charge

"NOO!!" Sylphiel sat up with a scream. "Take it easy, there Sylphiel" Lina placed a hand on her shoulder "you are safe now". The shrinemaiden nodded slowly. She leaned back in the bed and looked around. "Miss Lina?" she asked "why am I in bed like this?". Lina stood up and walked over to the window "you don't remember?" she asked, in an unusual soft voice. Sylphiel shook her head. She could remember talking to Anna, but everything went blank from there. Linas silence only made her worry even more. "Miss Lina..." Sylphiel begged "please tell me, has anything happened?". The sorceress turned away from the window and walked back to the bed. "You were attacked last night in your room" Linas voice was stern. "We heard you scream and when we came up to your room, we found you unconscious on the floor".

Sylphiel closed her eyes trying to remember. "Anna!" she gasped "Is she ok?". Lina took Sylphiels hand "We don't know where she is"

"How's she doing?" Amelia asked as soon as Lina came out of the door. "She upset about the little girl" Lina informed her friends "but she seems to be ok".

"Anna..." Sylphiel whispered. She starred up in the ceiling trying to remember back to last night. She suddenly felt something in her right hand. "What is this?" she asked and curiously opened her hand. "Miss Linas wedding ring" she whispered as she stared into the bright red gem. "If only you could tell me what happened back there" she mumbled as she put it on her finger.

"Are you sure we should leave her alone like that?" Amelia asked again. "There's nothing wrong with letting her have some time on her own to think things through" Zelgadis said "besides we are just outside the room in case she wants to talk". The Seyruun princess sat down in a chair "I just wish we knew what happened to that little girl" she sighed.

"At the very least there was no sign of blood in the room..." Zelgadis remarked dryly. "Don't say that!" Amelia gave the chimera an angry look. "Calm down Amelia" Gourry stood up from his chair "Zel's right, you know". Lina gave him a strange look "for once Gourry, you are absolutely right".

"I never noticed how strange this ring really is..." Sylphiel wondered out loud. The red gem almost seemed to glow with an unnatural light of it's own.

"Yes, it's a pretty thing, isn't it?" A voice came from behind her. Startled she turned around. "Mr. Xellos?". The mazuko priest gave her a cheerful smile "It's a bit late to still be in bed, isn't it?" Xellos joked. Sylphiel lowered her eyes. She didn't find the situation amusing at all. "Come on now" Xellos cheered "why the long face? Tell uncle Xellos all about it". Sylphiel turned away from him. She didn't know what was worst, the fact that he most likely knew what was going on, or that he most likely were enjoying her pain. "Excuse me, but could you please leave me alone?" she whispered. Xellos sat down on the bed next to her. He actually felt a bit disappointed that he had failed to get a response out of her.

"It's a shame about that little girl, isn't it?" Xellos decided to try another approach to get a rise out of her. "Anna?" Sylphiel turned to look straight at the priest "do you know something about Anna?". Xellos walked over to the window "I must say, the view from up here is quite spectacular isn't it?. A hand grabbed his shoulder and spun him around "Mr. Xellos!" Sylphiel frowned "I must insist that you tell me everything you know!". Xellos' smile broadened, this was what he had been after all along. "Shame on you" he poked her nose gently "losing your temper like that". She blushed and lowered her head. ".But I might know something after all" Xellos continued. "Yes?" Sylphiel asked hopefully. "But that, of course, is a secret" he waved a finger in front of her face and vanished.

"Sylphiel?" Lina peeked into the room "I heard shouting. Is everything ok in here?". The shrinemaiden stared out of the window in silence. "Sylphiel?" Lina stepped inside and closed he door behind her.

"Miss Lina?" Sylphiel turned around. From the look on her face Lina figured that she was upset. Sylphiel sat down on her bed "I need you to tell me where I can find Xellos". For a few seconds Lina waited for the shrinemaiden to go on, but when she just sat on the bed in silence, the sorceress decided that it was time to take charge of the conversation. "Now why would you even go looking for that fruitcake anyway?" She asked casually "If you ask me, we're better of without him".

Sylphiel stood up from the bed "He knows where Anna is" she shouted.

Her reaction took Lina completely by surprise and left her speechless. "Fine then" Sylphiel turned away from the sorceress "miss Lina, I'm afraid I wont be able to attend your wedding".

"Miss Lina, what happened in there?" Amelia asked "Miss Sylphiel looked really upset". Lina sighed as she slumped down in a chair. Her conversation with the shrinemaiden certainly hadn't turned out the way she had hoped for.

"I have a feeling that something big is going on here" Gourry said and casually put his arm around Lina. "What do you think you're doing you pervert!" Lina cried and sent him flying through a window with a well-aimed punch. "But miss Lina, you're about to get married" Amelia pointed out "Isn't he supposed to do something like that?". Lina blushed a little "sorry" she giggled "old habits die hard. Gourry I'm sorry". She cast a levitation spell and jumped out of the window "Gourry I'm sorry, ok!"

"Even if I had all of eternity, I'm not sure that I'd be able to figure out the nature of their relationship" Zelgadis remarked. Amelia nodded in agreement.

"Think we should to check on miss Sylphiel?" Amelia asked "I wonder if there is something we can do for her?" Zelgadis shrugged "I'd prefer we just gave her some time alone to think, but you know her better than me".

"Can we come in?" Amelia gently knocked the door to Sylphiels room. When she got no response from inside, she slid the door open. "Are you ok in there?" she asked carefully. Sylphiel sighed and put a bag down on the floor "why do everybody insist on asking me how I am?". Amelia motioned to Zelgadis to stay outside while she went inside. "We are just worried about you, that's all" She explained "It's just, that this is so unlike you, miss Sylphiel". The shrinemaiden sat down on a chair with a blank expression "I know miss Amelia" she sighed.

"Why don't you explain it to me then?" Amelia asked carefully. Sylphiel took a deep breath and nodded slowly "it's just...". She burst into tears "I just don't want to lose any more people". Amelia crouched down in front of her. She struggled to find words of comfort, but was unable to say anything before Sylphiel went on. "My father is dead, so is my hometown. I almost lost miss Lina once. Eruk has vanished, and now Anna too" she sobbed. Amelia nodded in silent understanding. "But I won't allow any more people to get hurt ever again!" Sylphiel raised her voice "Xellos knows where Anna is, and I'll go all the way to Wolfpack island to find out, if I have to!"

"You know, I don't think you'll have to go that far". Both girls jumped in surprise and stared at the door. "What do you mean miss Lina?" they asked in unison. Lina casually walked into the room. "What I mean is..." a smile spread on Linas face "That I might know where Xellos can be found". Sylphiel practically jumped up from her chair, almost knocking Amelia over in the process "Really, miss Lina?". Lina nodded "I happen to know that he has been hanging around Filia a lot lately. I wouldn't be surprised is we are able to find him there".

"I hate to be blunt about all this" Zelgadis remarked as he and Gourry followed her inside "but what do you mean by we? Certainly you can't mean that you are going to go with her? ". Lina shrugged "Gourry and I both agree that we can't have a wedding when the maid of honor is about to leave on some adventure on her own. Besides, I've always wanted at springtime wedding anyway..."

Amelia visibly paled "but... but what about all the preparations we have made already?". Lina sent Amelia a strange look "I'm sure Phil can figure out something. Besides wouldn't it be against the code of justice to let Sylphiel wander of alone?". Amelia struck a pose "You are right miss Lina!!" she shouted "of course Mr. Zelgadis and I will accompany you as well!". Zelgadis crossed his arms "why is it that I have to come anyway?" he muttered. "I think you are in for it Zel" Gourry whispered "when Amelia sets her mind on something, she can be as bad as Lina is".

Zel took a step away from the swordsman "I think they heard you Gourry" he whispered back.

"What do you mean by that Gourry?" Lina shouted while preparing a fireball. "Yeah, what did you mean by that?" Amelia agreed while preparing a fireball of her own. "Mommy..." Gourry whimpered as the two spells flew towards him. The explosion could be heard all over town. "Whoops" Lina giggled nervously when she realized what she had just done. "Amelia, haven't I told you it's dangerous to toss fireballs around like that?" she scolded the Seyruun princess. "But miss Lina..." Amelia tried to point out that both of them had been involved, but a glare from Lina made her forget about it. "Sylphiel can I ask you to heal the poor guy?" Lina asked in a sweet tone.

"Honestly Gourry" Sylphiel whispered as she started casting a healing spell " I thought you had learned to be more careful around miss Lina". A puff of smoke rose from his mouth "I'll try not to forget" he coughed.

"But miss Lina, I thought miss Filia would come to your wedding?" Sylphiel asked. The two of them were heading down to the throne room to make preparations with prince Phill. "Well, she isn't" Lina shrugged "I got a letter from her yesterday. Apparently she's to busy opening a new shop to go to Seyruun. Besides, she told me that Xellos had been hanging around her lot lately, and she's not about to leave everything to him". Sylphiel nodded in understanding. She would think twice before ever leaving the priest in charge of anything.

"Well, here we are" Lina stopped walking. "My room?" Sylphiel asked, trying her best to hide the confusion in her voice "I thought we were going to see prince Phill?". Lina opened the door "I am going to see prince Phill" she corrected the shrinemaiden "you, young lady, are going to bed". Sylphiel couldn't help but giggle as the sorceress' tone of voice. For some reason she felt like a kid that was sent to her room. "If we are going to leave tomorrow, you'll need your rest" Lina pointed at the bed. Sylphiel lowered her head and slowly walked inside. "Miss Lina?" she stopped in front of the redhead "tell me a bedtime story?". Lina gave her a gentle shove "go to sleep, or I will fireball you to sleep" she threatened. "Honestly" Sylphiel could hear Lina complaining loudly as she continued her way to the palace throne room "Kids these days!".

Sylphiel sat down on the bed. Despite everything that had happened, she felt happy. Lina could be rude and loud sometimes, but she also had a rarely seen gentle side. The two of them had had their misunderstandings in the past, but their differences was also what made their friendship so strong. Sylphiel stretched, she really was more tired than she had thought. She quickly changed out of her clothes and crept under her blankets. "I'll find you somehow Anna" she promised before she closed her eyes and drifted of to sleep.

"Found your way here again?" a woman asked. Sylphiel slowly opened her eyes. The greenhaired woman was standing a little distance away. "This is a dream, isn't it?" Sylphiel asked while looking around. The green field she was standing on looked like the place she had visited in her dreams before. "I must commend you for figuring that out" Millenia spat sarcastically and sat down. "Why am I here?" Sylphiel asked "I just don't understand". Millenia stood up "And you don't have to understand either" she snapped "you really have no business here anyway". Sylphiel cringed, something about this woman was really starting to scare her. "Anyway" Millenias tone softened "Now that you are here, I think someone wants to talk to you about something". Sylphiel raised her eyes "Anna?". A ghostly image of the little girl appeared behind the woman.

"_Big sis Sylphiel?" the image took a step forward "Don't trust her! She's...". Millenia snapped her fingers and the image disappeared. "What a naughty little girl" Millenia shook her head "She was instructed to only greet you, but she had to cross the line...". Sylphiel stood up "What happened to her?". The shrinemaidens voice had lost it's usual calm, gentle tone "You tell me where she is, or I'll make you regret it". Millenia shook hear head "oh please" she groaned "a violent shrinemaiden, what has the world come to?"_

_Sylphiel felt dizzy as the world started spinning around. "I'll come save you Anna, I promise!" she shouted as everything faded into black._

"Anna!" Sylphiel sat up in bed with a jolt. "A dream" she breathed heavily "only a dream". She slumped back in the bed "That woman, my dreams, Anna. I wonder what it all means?".

She turned her head towards the window. A pale ray of moonlight illuminated the room. "I promise" she whispered as sleep once again overcame her.

Authors notes:

Ack... Looks like I did it again, doesn't it? I know it's been a while since I updated this story. It's just that I've been so busy with other written works to get anything done on this one. In fact, it's almost been a month since the last time I had the spare time to continue writing on this story. I hope that that will change sometime in the near future, seeing that I really enjoy working on Slayers fanfiction, but sadly I can't promise anything. As I've said before, I can only promise that someday I will finish this. I've spent far to many hours working on it just to give it up that easily.


	12. Recovering

Disclaimer: I still don't own Slayers. Surprised? Well... you shouldn't be. Slayers is still the property of some Japanese guys with more money than me.

Recovering

An answer to a question?

"Hey miss Naga!" Nimph called "The master is waking up now". Naga put down her mug and walked over to the bed. Eruk had been out cold for the most of the day. Slowly he opened his eyes. "Well, about time you got up" Naga sighed "You know, the rent of this room comes out of your share". Eruk closed his eyes and turned away, this was the last thing he needed right now. "Don't you turn away from me!" Naga snarled and yanked him around. "I can't believe the nerve of the guy sometimes" she muttered. "Are you sure it's safe?" Nene whimpered. She and her sister stood up against the faraway wall, trying to get as far away from Eruk as they could. "He's not normal!" Mimi agreed. "What was that?" Nimph flew up to them "The master is perfectly normal!". She folded her arms and gave them an angry look. "Nimph, that's enough" Eruk slowly sat up in the bed "they are right, I'm far from normal" he sighed.

"The... the demon dragon king?" Nene stuttered and hid behind her sister. "Ohohoho!" Naga laughed "Of course, nothing less would do it as sidekick for the great Naga". Nimph ignored them and flew over next to him "are you ok master?" she asked. She didn't try to hide the concern in her voice. "You felt it too Nimph?" he asked. For some reason he felt like there was something missing Like he had forgotten something important

"Well, I'll leave you two to get some rest then" Naga announced "Sidekick, drinks are on you tonight". She left the room with Mimi and Nene in tow.

"You weren't kidding, were you?" Mimi asked for the tenth time that evening. Naga downed another mug of wine "of course not. That guy really is the demon dragon king". Nene shuttered "Sis, I think we should give up on that promise" she suggested "there's no way the two of us can go up against the demon dragon king?". Mimi nodded as a shiver ran down her spine. They were hired to hunt down a man and a woman, not a crazy sorceress and the demon dragon king. "Nene, we're leaving" Mimi announced. Naga shrugged and downed yet another mug of wine as the twins left the room. "What weird girls" Nimph whispered "but I have the feeling that we'll see them again someday".

"I wonder how the master is doing" Nimph thought out loud. She had been sitting on the table the most of the evening, just staring at Naga drinking. From time to time she had flown up to Eruk's room to check on him, but the had been no response from inside. "How can you just sit there drinking miss Naga?" she complained. "Well, sidekicks sidekick" Naga giggled "what better time is there to drink?". Strangely enough it didn't sound like the alcohol had affected her mind that much yet. "I agree" A voice came from behind her "One should really celebrate after such a glorious victory". Naga slowly turned around to face the speaker. "Aren't you the Xellos guy?" Nimph asked suspiciously. "Well... no matter who he is, he sure has good taste" Naga gestured to the empty seat beside her "it's yours, if you buy the next round".

"You!". Xellos turned in the direction of the voice. Eruk was standing in the doorway trying his best to stand up straight despite his physical condition. "Ah, glad to see you again, lord Gaav" Xellos smirked and gave him a light bow. "Name's Eruk" he groaned as he stumbled forward "and you'd better remember it, monster". He pushed his way past the smiling priest and slumped down on the vacant chair. "Master, you really should be resting" Nimph sat down in front of him and gave him a concerned look. "What did you want Xellos?" he asked in a monotone voice "I know you didn't just pop in for a friendly drink and some small talk". His body was aching all over. The physical pain was one thing, but the knowledge that Xellos were having a feast on that pain was almost unbearable.

"Well, actually I just stopped by to make sure that you were behaving yourself, lord Gaav" Xellos gratefully accepted the mug handed to him by a waiter and downed the brew in one go. "OHOHOHO" Naga stood up and started laughing "I don't know who you are, but I respect anyone who can drink like that". Eruk sighed and rolled his eyes "typical Naga logic" he muttered under his breath as she sat back down. "Well enough socializing for now" Xellos laughed "I'm just happy that you are not having any problems with the ladies". Eruk narrowed his eyes "what are you talking about?" he growled. There was something in the priests voice that he didn't like. "Ups, look at the time!" Xellos pulled an hourglass from his cape "I should have been at Filias place 10 minutes ago". Xellos started to walk towards the exit. "Wait just a second" Naga called after him "You still owe me for that drink!" Without turning around, Xellos simply waved "I believe you've already received your payment" he smirked as he vanished just as suddenly as he had appeared.

"What a rude man!" Naga complained "don't he know that I'm the great Naga?". Eruk silently headed for the exit. Listening to the ramblings of the great white serpent was not how he had intended to spend the evening. To top it all of, Xellos had never approached him as directly as he had done tonight. "What? Are you leaving as well?" Naga complained. "Sorry miss Naga" Eruk gave her his most sincere smile "I feel like collapsing any minute, and I would prefer I was in my room, and not some restaurant, should that happen". With a sigh, Naga took another deep sip of her wine "men" she mumbled.

"Oh boy" Nimph cheered "It's bed time! The dreamtime!". She was giggling loudly as she jumped up and down in the bed. Eruk sat down by the table and tried his best to ignore her cherry voice. "Why did Xellos show up here?" He mumbled to himself "And what was he talking about? I just don't understand!". Nimph stopped jumping around and looked at him curiously. "Aren't you going to sleep master?" she asked after a little while. "No" he shook his head "I need to figure out what he was talking about before I can get any rest". Nimph sighed and slumped down on the pillow "Too bad" she giggled and hugged the pillow tightly "I guess I'll just see you tomorrow then". She cuddled together on the pillow and wrapped her wings tightly around her body. "Uh-huh" He agreed as he lit and candle and stared into the flame "see you tomorrow".

As the sun rose on the horizon, it cast it's bright light on the sleeping fairy. She opened her eyes slowly and yawned loudly. "Master?" She looked below her in confusion "where did he go?" she wondered. She unwrapped her wings "He's not in here either? She wondered "but he always sleeps right below me!". A weak grunt made her look over to the table. "There you are!" she exclaimed happily and flew over to Eruk sleeping form. "Stayed up all night, did you?" she giggled "I was worried about you".

"Good morning master!" She gently poked his nose "rise and shine!". Eruk mumbled something and slowly opened his eyes. "Good morning master!" the fairy greeted him warmly. "Why am I here?" he looked around, slightly confused. "I fell asleep didn't I?" It was not a question, but more of a statement as he remember last night. "So did you find out anything?" Nimph plopped down in front of him. He shook his head "No, I guess I kept going in circles all night". He admitted.

"Looks like miss Naga hasn't arrived here yet" Eruk scouted the restaurant. It was still pretty early in the morning, but a few people had found their way here to eat breakfast. He found a table and sat down. It still bothered him that he had been unable to figure out why Xellos had shown up. "Didn't anything ring a bell master?" Nimph asked. She was too busy pouring sugar into a cup of tea to notice how his expression changed. "That's it!" he shouted and jumped up from his seat "Nimph, you are a genius!" he shouted as he ran from the room. "Huh?" Nimph looked up from her cup of sugar "Me, a genius?"

"Miss Naga?!" Eruk pushed to door to the sorceress room open. "G'away" Naga mumbled and turned over in her bed, obviously she was more than a little drunk. Eruk shrugged and ran over to the chair where she had dumped her clothes. He held up her cape and started searching through the various pockets. "how much stuff does she keep in this thing?" he groaned and tossed some half full bottles aside. "There it is" he whispered triumphantly as his hand closed around a small round object. "Hold it right there" a hand grabbed hold of his shoulders and spun him around. He swallowed hard as he found himself staring at Naga. "Sidekick..." she grumbled and cracked her knuckles. He took a step back. Naga could almost be just a dangerous as Lina if she set her mind to it.

Naga followed him slowly, determined to hear an explanation. Eruk opened his mouth and tried to speak, but no sound left his lips. "Is there anything wrong sidekick?" Naga's attitude shifted from anger to concern. Her faithful sidekick had been acting rather strangely lately, and that usually meant that something was up. Eruk took one step forward and fell into her arms. He was out cold.

"_This place again?" Eruk stood up. The familiar field of flowers stretched as far as he could see, but something seemed wrong. He bend down and picked up a flower. "It's dead..." he mumbled. The withered flower lost a few petals as he let it fall to the ground. "Yes, it's petty sad" Eruk turned around and stood face to face with Millenia. "My paradise is dying" she whispered. Eruk watched in silence as she picked up the flower he had just dropped. Her blue dress flowed gently in the wind as she faced him. "Please help me" she whispered and took his hand "please save my precious flowers"._

_Eruk look down on her sobbing at his feet. "I'm no gardener" He mumbled "what am I supposed to about it?". He looked around "I'm not even sure where this is anyway..." he added. "Millenia stood up and brushed some dirt of her knees "It's true that, this place is well hidden, and that you may not know a lot about flowers", she took his hand "but you have an item in your possession that would ensure the safety of my little garden". Suddenly he got a strange feeling that the two of them were not alone. "NO!" Millenia cried out, and ran behind him as a dark shadow rose from the ground "He has found me!". Eruk reached out for his sword as he faced the towering giant in front of him. "My weapon?" he asked in confusion as his hand found nothing but air where the sword should have been. "I didn't think you would need it" Millenia whimpered. "Well, what am I supposed to do then?" Eruk growled. "When you wake up, head west" she whispered "and bring the object you find in your hand when you wake up". She stood up and planted a quick kiss on his cheek. Again the world started spinning as he found himself leaving_ _the dream world._

"I think it's about time you tell me what's going on here" Naga frowned. Eruk ignored her and looked around. The bed he was lying in was definitely not his own. He shook his head a few times to clear his thoughts. Waking up from one of those strange dreams always left him a little weak and disoriented. His nose picked up a strange scent. "Perfume?" he wondered "Of course. This is miss Naga's bed".

"Hey, sidekick!" Naga shook him forcefully. "Don't ignore me when I'm talking to you!" the sorceress frowned. "Sorry miss Naga" he mumbled as he shifted to a sitting position "you were saying?", Naga took a deep breath "I asked you what's going on?" she said "it's not normal to pass out like that". Eruk turned his head away from her and look out of the window "I really wish I knew, miss Naga" he admitted with a heavy sigh "But I know that I have to travel west in order to find out".

"That's it!" Naga stroke a pose "west it is!". Eruk turned his gaze back to his employer "You are going with me?" he asked. "Of course!" Naga nodded "We have to get to the bottom of this. I can't have a sidekick that passes out all the time, now can I?". He suppressed a chuckle "No, I guess you can't" he agreed. "Now that we have decided on our next destination" Naga rose from the chair she had been sitting on "I don't suppose you could tell me just why you came sneaking in here like that?". Eruk slowly opened his hand to reveal the small gold ring "I think that this is connected in some ways, but I'm not entirely sure..."

"Now" he rose from the bed "Id better go and prepare for the journey "..He gave Naga a sly look as he headed for the door "I would imagine that you need to get changed as well" he remarked. She looked down at the tiny scrap of clothing that made up her nightgown. "What's wrong with my outfit?" she asked in wonder. Eruk merely shrugged and left the room.

"Oh master, there you are!" Nimph greeted him warmly as he turned a corner. "Why did you run of all of a sudden?" she asked. "I was worried about you" she added with a whisper. "Huh, did you say anything?" even though his hearing was well above that of an average human, he still hadn't heard the last part of what she was saying. "Ummm, I said I can't believe the nerve of that guy..." She quickly corrected herself. "What guy?" Eruk looked around. The hallway was completely abandoned. "That guy!" The fairy pointed at a suit of armor. "I've been talking to him for more than 10 minutes now, but he haven't said a word!" she complained loudly. "It's just an armor Nimph" he chuckled "It can't answer you, even if it wanted to". Nimph's eyes darted back and forth between himself and the armor "It could have told me that in the first place..." she pouted.

"Does that mean we are getting ready to leave this place?" Nimph asked excitedly as he tightened the straps of leather that held his borrowed sword in it's place on his back. "I thought you liked hanging around here?" he asked while he gathered some more of his belongings. "I do" the fairy replied and plopped down on his head "but if master and miss Naga are going somewhere, this place wouldn't even be half as fun. Besides I like seeing new places!". He nodded "So do I Nimph, so do I". Even though he agreed with her, he couldn't remove all traces of sadness from his voice. "What's wrong, master?" Nimph flew down in front of his face "why so sad all of a sudden?". He shook his head and gave her a forced smiled "Sometimes I just long for a place where I can belong" he admitted.

"Now, that's way to depressing sidekick" Eruk spun around, startled by Naga's voice. The tall sorceress was leaning casually on the doorframe "A home?" she asked "Who needs a home when there's plenty of treasures to find out in the world?". Nimph's face brightened "she's right master!" she exclaimed "It's all good when we are all together having fun, right?". He found that he couldn't deny it completely that he enjoyed traveling all over the world looking for treasures, no matter how much he wanted to. "I guess you two are right" he admitted and picked up his backpack "Let's head out then!"

Authors notes:

Ok, here you are. Two brand new chapters of the light and darkness saga. Again I must apologize for the long wait, I never would have thought it would be that long before I got around to update this. I'll try to improve till the next one. I promise... I hope.


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